Forests and Climate Change

REDD+ and the Green Climate Fund: Confirming the Worst Fears

20 Feb, 2019

By Simone Lovera-Bilderbeek, director, Global Forest Coalition, Paraguay/Netherlands Photo: “Afforestation” in Bahia in Brazil. On 29 January 2019, environmental activist Rosane Santiago Silveira was brutally murdered when she was trying to halt the encroachment of these tree plantations on her community lands. Photo by Lovera-Bilderbeek The upcoming meeting of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) Board in Songdo, South Korea, from 26 to 28 February, is likely to be an historic meeting for international forest policy. For the first time, this …

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Implications of Katowice: Where human rights were ignored while big business captured the negotiations

29 Jan, 2019

By: Souparna Lahiri* The Paris Rulebook (renamed the ‘Katowice Rulebook’ by many), the outcome of 24th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP24),…

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A gloomy future for climate finance at COP24

11 Dec, 2018

By Coraina de la Plaza, Global Forest Coalition Climate finance has again been one of the most sticky issues in international climate change negotiations this year. Since the signing of…

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Photo essay: Respect rights over land and forest resources, and community conservation can cool the planet!

5 Dec, 2018

By Global Forest Coalition As world leaders gather in Katowice, Poland, to discuss how to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, we present this photo essay showcasing the conservation…

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Forest Cover 57 – 1.5°C from a community perspective

3 Dec, 2018

As governments congregate once more for a climate COP, this time in Katowice, Poland, Forest Cover 57 looks critically at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s latest assessment report…

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New briefing reveals shocking scale of planned forest biomass industry growth

30 Nov, 2018

“Are forests the new coal?” is a new briefing from the Environmental Paper Network’s Biomass Working Group. The threat map report shows that the biomass industry is set to increase…

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The industrialisation of the Bioeconomy poses risks to the climate, the environment, and people

8 Nov, 2018

Civil society groups reject the impact of an exponential growth of the Bioeconomy In recent years, governments have given support to substitute fossil fuels with biomass for energy, in the…

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132 civil society organisations critizise CORSIA in open letter to ICAO Council

25 Oct, 2018

Today, 132 civil society organisations from around the world sent an open letter to National Representations to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The letter comes just ahead of the…

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The Chaco under attack

16 Oct, 2018

A photoessay about indigenous communities in the Chaco region of Paraguay, and their existence in a landscape under threat by agribusiness and international trade policies. By Fernando Franceschelli and Ines…

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Fire and Plantations in Portugal: A case study on the risks of using tree plantations to remove carbon from the atmosphere

28 Sep, 2018

We are pleased to share the following piece originally published in Science for the People, a recently revitalized organization of activists and scientists that published a bimonthly magazine from 1969…

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Forest Cover 56 – Community conservation in Africa

28 Sep, 2018

We are excited to bring you this special edition of Forest Cover on community conservation in Africa, which also contributes to discussions at the Conference of the Parties (COP) of…

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Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendants, and peasant farmers resist “green deserts” in Brazil

21 Sep, 2018

By the Global Forest Coalition On International Day Against Monoculture Tree Plantations we bring you this photo-essay showing the devastation caused by monoculture tree plantations in Brazil, and in contrast,…

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From Bangkok to Katowice: In whose interests are the climate negotiations?

1 Sep, 2018

by Souparna Lahiri, 2nd September, 2018 This week the negotiations over the Paris Rulebook and Paris Agreement Work Programme (PAWP) recommence in Bangkok. It reminds me of the 2009 Bangkok…

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78 Environmental Groups Challenge Drax’s Gas Burning Plans

31 Aug, 2018

Open Letter by groups denounces plans for UK’s largest gas power station On the final day of a public consultation about Drax’s planning proposal for what would be the UK’s…

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Open letter: Ireland’s peat power stations must be shut down, not gradually converted to biomass

13 Aug, 2018

August 13, 2018 Subject: Ireland’s peat power stations must be shut down, not gradually converted to biomass As conservation and environmental justice organizations in the United States, we are deeply…

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Government silent on over 313 murders of human rights and environment defenders, denounce Colombian activists

20 Jul, 2018

Colombian activists protest outside UN headquarters in New York; photo credit: Women’s Major Group New York, 19 July: Activists from various organizations worldwide [1] protested against the murders of at…

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Implementing SDG 15.2: GFC’s analysis in Armenia, Benin, Colombia and Paraguay

13 Jul, 2018

The Global Forest Coalition is launching four brief alternative country reports at this year’s United Nations High Level Political Forum (HLPF), currently ongoing in New York. The reports highlight concerns…

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