| December 6, 2010 |  |
Agreement Near on Strong International Action to End Tropical Deforestation
Statement by Doug Boucher
CANCÚN, Mexico (December 6, 2010) – Over the last week, negotiators working on tropical deforestation at the U.N. climate conference in Cancún have drafted language that resolves many of the most contentious issues standing in the way of a landmark agreement. As the final, high-level segment of the talks begins tomorrow, environmental ministers will need to make some tough choices to resolve a few remaining questions to significantly curb this problem, which is responsible for about 15 percent of the world’s global warming pollution.
Below is a statement by Doug Boucher, director of climate research and analysis at the Union of Concerned Scientists:
“The negotiations on what is called ‘reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation,’ or REDD-plus, which began in Bali three years ago, have reached a crucial point. Over the past week, negotiators have produced a draft agreement with only a small number of issues remaining, and have identified clear options to choose among them.
“Senior environmental officials now taking over the negotiations need to cross the finish line on REDD-plus by picking the strongest alternatives the negotiators have identified. They need to affirm the ambitious emissions goal and choose the strongest options on the vital questions of safeguarding forest peoples and providing the necessary funding. Those are option #1 in each case.
“Over the past several years some tropical countries, with financing from industrialized countries, have significantly slowed the destruction of their forests. Now the senior officials negotiating in Cancún have the opportunity to make that success global, making tropical deforestation a thing of the past, not an ongoing danger to our climate. They can do it, and the planet can take a historic step forward.”
The Union of Concerned Scientists puts rigorous, independent science to work to solve our planet's most pressing problems. Joining with citizens across the country, we combine technical analysis and effective advocacy to create innovative, practical solutions for a healthy, safe, and sustainable future.
