Fighting Deforestation and Forest Degradation

Manila 2011

Affirming that in order to constrain the impacts of climate change within limits that society will reasonably be able to tolerate, the global average temperatures must be stabilized within two degrees Celsius;

Recognizing that healthy forests sustain biodiversity and ecosystem services, ensuring clean water, productive soils, and protection against floods — helping countries adapt to climate change;

Alarmed by the fact 90 acres of rainforest are destroyed every minute, that over one million hectares of tropical forest are destroyed every month and that deforestation threatens half of the world’s species with extinction;

Considering that deforestation and forest degradation, through agricultural expansion, conversion to pastureland, infrastructure development, destructive logging and fires account for nearly 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions, which is equivalent to more than the entire global transportation sector and second only to the energy sector;

Recognizing that it will be practically impossible to achieve a two degrees Celsius stabilization target without reducing emissions from the forest sector, in addition to other mitigation actions;

Applauding the UN-REDD Programme, which is the United Nations Collaborative initiative on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) in developing countries, for its effort to create a financial value for the carbon stored in forests, offering incentives for developing countries to reduce emissions from forested lands and invest in low-carbon paths to sustainable development;

Welcoming pledges by Norway of NOK 175 million (approximately US$30 million) in funding for 2010, and €15 million (approximately US$20 million) from Spain for 2010-2012;

Applauding the UN REDD+ program, that goes beyond deforestation and forest degradation, and includes the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests, enhancement of forest carbon stocks, helps conserve biodiversity, secures ecosystems and helps countries access financial and technical support

BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE LIBERAL INTERNATIONAL:

• Encourages other countries to contribute to the REDD and REDD+ programs;
• Calls for the establishment of a system allowing private funders to contribute to REDD and REDD+;
• Urges the developed countries participating in REDD and REDD+ activities in developing countries to complement this initiative with deep emissions cut locally in their own countries instead of using the REDD and REDD+ engagement as a substitute for cutting their own emissions at home;
• Stresses that it is also important to protect the rights of indigenous people who wish to have access to the forest;
• Calls upon governments in developing countries that have problems with illegal logging to take serious actions against it;