News
HRH hails a significant step forward in finding a solution to deforestation
19th November 2009
The Prince of Wales today praised governments for reaching a consensus on emergency funding to tackle tropical deforestation.Watch the video below:
The consensus comes in the form of an inter-governmental report produced this month by the Informal Working Group (IWG) of 35 countries that was set up after the meeting of world leaders convened by The Prince at St James’s Palace in April.
The IWG report outlines a process that would reward rainforest countries for reducing deforestation rates. Payments would be made on a performance basis, and by ensuring that the forests were worth more alive than dead the financing is aimed at encouraging rainforest countries to pursue more sustainable forms of economic development.
Speaking today at a meeting at St James’s Palace to discuss the report, The Prince said that he had been heartened by the Working Group’s findings and the support that these had received. Today’s meeting was attended by two Heads of State – President Jagdeo of Guyana and President Bongo of Gabon - senior ministers from 18 countries, including the UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Milliband, business leaders from a range of regions and industries, and many of the world’s leading environmental NGO’s (non-governmental organisations).
In a short keynote speech The Prince said: “I have been enormously encouraged to hear the findings from [the IWG] report. It does seem that we have arrived at a consensus on how emergency funding might be deployed in the near future.”
Tony Juniper, Special Advisor to The Prince’s Rainforests Project and former Director of Friends of the Earth hailed the report as a breakthrough: “This is the first time there has been a consensus among governments on a mechanism to deal with the underlying causes of deforestation, which are mainly economic.”
Tackling deforestation is vital because rainforests play a crucial role in preserving life on the planet. They regulate rainfall, cool the climate, preserve biodiversity and, most importantly, store vast amounts of carbon. Tropical deforestation is a major cause of greenhouse gas emissions and ending the destruction of the world’s rainforests is essential if the battle against climate change is to be won.
In October 2007, His Royal Highness established The Prince’s Rainforests Project (PRP) to develop a consensus around how the rate of rainforest destruction might be slowed. After a great deal of research and analysis, working across governmental, business and NGO sectors including the major rainforest nations of the world, the PRP published a report in March 2009 which concluded that emergency funding was needed urgently to encourage more sustainable forms of development in rainforest countries.
It was this PRP report that formed the basis of the meeting of world leaders and senior international figures which The Prince hosted at St James’s Palace on 1st April. Following this meeting, an Informal Working Group on Interim Finance for REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) was established by both the major rainforest countries and the main developed nations. The group, known as IWG-IFR, recently published its findings outlining a mechanism to save the CO2 equivalent of the annual emissions of the USA over a period of 5 years.
The proposed new mechanism would reward countries on a performance basis for changes in deforestation rates at the national level. Payments would be made after agreed targets to cut forest loss have been achieved. In this way, the new mechanism would encourage rainforest countries to see the conservation of their forests as a valuable asset. Currently, countries have incentives to clear forests for economic reasons, but the new proposals ensure that they are worth more alive than dead.
At today’s meeting two countries, Brazil and Guyana, provided examples of interim finance in action and explained how they have tackled the problem. The meeting also included representatives of other rainforest nations including Gabon, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia.
There was encouraging news from the developed nations who attended the meeting. Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for the Department of Energy and Climate Change, indicated UK Government support for the proposals; the Norwegian Government, represented by Hans Brattskar, has shown exceptional leadership by funding the two examples of interim funding provided at the meeting; and the US Ambassador Louis Susman read a letter from Senator Leahy (Chairman of an Appropriations Sub Committee) announcing that the US has allocated a sum of $275m for tropical forests in 2010.
Visit The Prince's Rainforests Project website