Changing the global approach
11. The Eliasch Review argued for a global change
in the way that land is used, based on "a sustainable system
of global production which can meet increasing demand for commodities
and lead to reduced carbon emissions, better livelihoods for the
poor and preservation of non-carbon ecosystem services such as
biodiversity".[18]
It identified three 'levers' available to policy makers to achieve
this change:
- Carbon finance (to provide
a financial incentive to keep forests);
- Supply-side policies (to discourage in-country
policies and practices that facilitate or otherwise lead to deforestation);
and
- Demand-side measures to support sustainable production
(to help shift economic incentives away from deforestation).
12. The Eliasch Review recognised that each rainforest
nation would need to ensure its growth and development strategies
put all three of these policy levers into use.[19]
A similar approach was put forward in the UN's Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment (MEA), which we reported on in January 2007.[20]
13. Some witnesses thought that climate change negotiations
side-lined supply- and demand-side issues focusing instead on
the development of a payment mechanism.[21]
Huw Irranca-Davies MP, Minister for the Natural and Marine Environment,
Wildlife and Rural Affairs, Defra, recognised that the negotiations
should address issues other than the development of a payment
mechanism. He said reforms would need to be driven by rainforest
nations but the high-level engagement by a large number of rainforest
nations gave him cause for optimism that these wider issues might
be addressed.[22]
14. An agreement
on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation
will be required if the UNFCCC conference in Copenhagen in December
2009 is to be a success. We are concerned by evidence that the
negotiations are focusing solely on the development of a payment
mechanism. An agreement at Copenhagen must include a decision
that the global community will also act on both the supply- and
demand-side causes of deforestation. In particular, the UK and
other developed countries must reduce the impact of their consumption
patterns on deforestation and forest degradation.
15. In the remainder of this Report we consider the
key political action required in terms of:
- Support for rainforest nations
to ensure their development does not lead to deforestation;
- policies to shift demand away from commodities
that lead to deforestation; and
- a system to compensate developing countries for
maintaining forests.
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