ProForest at the UN Climate Change Conference

The UN Climate Change Conference, attended by delegates from 180 countries and observers from intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations, was a gathering to discuss the global climate change challenge. Deforestation accounts for about 20% of the annual global greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activities, and Reducing Emissions for Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) was the subject of intense debate at the Conference. Proforest was present at the meeting and participated in two important debates.

Proforest's director, Ruth Nussbaum, co-authored a joint paper with Jade Saunders of Chatham House on forest governance, illegal logging and REDD. The paper addresses the issue of capacity to govern forest carbon resources and capture potential revenues for national and local benefit, which represents a serious challenge to achieving any REDD objectives.

ProForest in its role as the Secretariat to the High Conservation Value (HCV) Resource Network, coordinated an official side event to the Conference and a special event at the CIFOR Forest Day. This was led by ProForest Associate Director, Christopher Stewart. The side events focused on land use planning and sustainability standards for potential forest carbon projects. The High Conservation Value (HCV) framework is a potentially powerful tool for prioritising areas for REDD which maximise environmental, social and carbon benefits, and ensuring that critical conservation values are not damaged by REDD projects. More information on the HCV events is available from the HCV Resource Network website.

More information on this event can be found on the official website of the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali.