WORLD
BANK HANDS OFF FORESTS
PRESS RELEASE
- December 10, 2007
Friends
of the Earth International - World Rainforest Movement - Global Forest
Coalition
BALI (INDONESIA), Dec. 10, 2007
Environmental groups at the United Nations climate talks in Bali today
urged governments to reject a new World Bank initiative promoting
the inclusion of forests in carbon markets.
The World Bank initiative, known
as the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) is set to be launched
on Tuesday 11th December in Bali as part of the discussions on Reducing
Emissions through Deforestation in Developing countries? (REDD).
The initiative, which would allow
tropical forests to be included in carbon offsetting schemes, fails
to combat climate change, the groups said, because it allows industrialised
countries and companies to buy their way out of emissions' reductions.
Between 18-20 percent of annual
global carbon emissions are caused by deforestation, and Indonesia
is the world's third largest greenhouse gas emitter as a result of
deforestation.
The World Bank has a particularly
appalling track record in relation to funding forests and carbon projects,
not least because it provides substantial funding to oil, gas and
mining projects; and as a broker, has a vested interest in promoting
carbon trading.
Its planned Forest Carbon Partnership
Facility would have serious negative social and environmental impacts,
the groups said.
Torry Kuswardhono, Energy Campaigner
at Friends of the Earth Indonesia (WALHI): said:
"Carbon offsetting is extremely
unfair. Forests provide livelihoods for over one billion Indigenous
and other forests peoples. Wealthy companies and countries are able
to buy the right to continue to pollute, while poor communities in
developing countries can find themselves locked into unfavourable,
long-term commercial contracts over forest management".
Sandy Gauntlett, Pacific focal
point of the Global Forest Coalition and chairman of the Pacific Indigenous
Peoples Environment Coalition said:
"Indigenous Peoples and local
communities will bear the real costs of forest-related climate mitigation
projects based on carbon finance because they will increase the pressure
on their lands and territories and undermine land rights claims. With
this proposal, the World Bank is violating the principle of Prior
Informed Consent, which is enshrined in the UN Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous Peoples should not just be
consulted on this facility. Without their full and prior informed
consent this facility should be disbanded."
World Rainforest Movement spokesperson
Ana Filipini said :
"Carbon finance mechanisms
in developing countries result in forests being transferred or sold
off to large corporations who hope to acquire profitable ?carbon credits?
associated with those forests at some point in the future. The current
proposals are set to reward logging and palm oil corporations and
countries with high deforestation rates whilst
undermining Indigenous Peoples' and other forest-dependent communities'
rights, in particular those of women."
Some of the genuine and urgent
measures needed to address the deforestation problem include:
1) Giving the highest priority
to halting the development, production and trade of agrofuels, and
suspend all targets and other incentives, including subsidies, carbon
offsets and public and private finance related to the development
and production of agrofuels.
2) Keeping tropical forests out
of carbon finance mechanisms, which are unpredictable, inequitable
and discourage the reduction of emissions at source. This includes
keeping forests out of the Clean Development Mechanism and all carbon
trading initiatives; and rejecting the World Bank?s Forest Carbon
Partnership Facility (FCPF).
3) Redirect the very substantial
amounts of public funds, tax exemptions and other forms of subsidies
currently provided to the fossil fuel and agrofuels industries, into
avoided deforestation assistance funds, the effective promotion of
public transport and the development of solar, wind, geothermal, wave
and energy efficiency industries.
4) Strengthen weak forest conservation
policies and institutions, encouraging bans or moratoria on industrial
logging and forest conversion, and addressing corruption and lack
of enforcement.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
IN BALI:
Joseph Zacune, Friends of the
Earth International climate coordinator,
Indonesian mobile number +62.813.3896995 (dec 1-14 only)
Sandy Gauntlett, Oceania focal
point, Global Forest Coalition and chairperson of the Pacific Indigenous
Peoples Environment Coalition, +62- 813-38938574 or email sandyoceania@yahoo.com
Torry Kuswardhono, Energy Campaigner, Friends
of the Earth Indonesia
(WALHI): +62- 811383270 or email torry@walhi.or.id
Fay, media officer, WALHI (Friends of the
Earth Indonesia) , Indonesian
mobile number +62 815 8070717
