Results for “geoengineering”
Fight for System Change Now! Why we need to build alternatives and dismantle a process that will lock us into another decade of burning the planet
[September 2015, Climate Space Statement, Español, Français] Download the PDF here Today, just few months before the 21st Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP21) in Paris in December 2015, we see with great foreboding that a very bad deal is coalescing. The consequences of the problematic UNFCCC process leading towards the Paris deal are incredibly grave. If the world is locked into another decade of burning the planet, there will be disastrous …
Maputo Declaration of African Civil Society on Climate Justice
GFC has signed on to the Maputo Declaration of African Civil Society on Climate Justice. Read full declaration here. Climate justice advocates, community peoples and mass movements’ representatives met in Maputo, Mozambique from 21-23 April 2015 to consider the roots, manifestations and impacts of climate change on Africa and to consider needed responses to the crises. At the end of the deliberations it was agreed that Africa is disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis although she has not significantly contributed …
Bioenergy and Forests
This editorial is part of Forest Cover issue nº47. If you want to read or download the rest of the articles please go to https://globalforestcoalition.org/resources/forest-cover-issues/forest-cover-47-bioenergy-special-edition By Rachel Smolker, Biofuelwatch, USA Board member of the Global Forest Coalition Forests continue to be caught in the climate crosshairs. On the one hand, REDD and forest offsets are promoted as ‘protecting carbon sinks’, with the potential to create profits for carbon market players. On the other hand, subsidies and targets for renewable energy …
Forest Cover 47: Bioenergy Special Edition
Welcome to a brand new edition of Forest Cover, the Global Forest Coalition newsletter that provides a space for Southern and Northern environmental justice activists to present their views on international forest-related policies. We were happy to co-produce this special edition, which focuses on the impacts of wood-based bioenergy on forests and forest peoples, with our active member group Biofuelwatch. Download the print version to read on about bioenergy, forests, a summary of the international strategy meeting, a photo essay on impacts of unsustainable livestock farming and on wood-based bioenergy and a case on the Bukaleba Forest Reserve.
There will be no going back from the climate chaos if we don’t halt polluting corporations and change the system
Climate change negotiations are being dominated by irresponsible states, polluters and corporations that only care about current operations and the furtherance of profits through more fossil fuel exploitation and in new carbon markets which are destroying forests, soil, wetlands, rivers, mangroves and oceans, and financializing and privatizing ecosystems and nature itself on which our lives depend. This was more than evident in the last UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP) in Warsaw, Poland where parallel to the climate negotiations there …
New Report spells out Potential Negative Impacts of Bioeconomy and Markets in Environmental Services on Women
Bonn/Bogota, 12 June 2013 A new report [1] by the Global Forest Coalition [2] was launched at a side event on equity in climate mitigation policies organized by GenderCC at the climate talks in Bonn, Germany [3]. The report highlights the serious negative impacts that the proposed new ‘bioeconomy’ and existing markets in ‘environmental services’ could have on women around the world.
Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Sequestration requires Massive Quantities of Biomass
Biofuelwatch has completed a new report on yet another technology that requires massive quantities of biomass, “BECCS”, or “Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Sequestration. The idea behind BECCS is that bioenergy (here referring to any and all forms, from corn ethanol to burning wood for electricity) is “carbon neutral” and that capturing the carbon emissions and burying them underground would render the process “carbon negative”. As such, many are advocating BECCS as a good candidate technology for climate geoengineering. IPCC …
GFC’s intervention during REDD+ discussion at CBD’s COP11
GFC: Thank you Madam chairperson for allowing me this opportunity to speak.
We share concerns that REDD+ might not necessarily contribute to biodiversity and that the discussion should focus on preventing potential negative impacts of REDD+ on biodiversity, Indigenous Peoples, local communities and women. However, from an international legal point of view, we are well aware that any recommendations of this Convention to the UNFCCC can only be in the form of non-binding advice. We also share the concerns highlighted by the delegate of Bolivia and note that the REDD+ discussions are taking place in an FCCC working group that has not yet concluded its work, so the advice is rather premature, especially in the light of the current dire state the FCCC negotiations, which also has significant impacts as far as the expectations for financial support for REDD are concerned. It is highly unlikely that REDD+ will end up to be the gold-spinner it was originally assumed to be.
In that light we are highly surprised by the unbalanced approach that has been taken towards the implementation of these decisions of the 10th COP of the CBD, and the implementation of the decisions that relate to forest policy in general. The draft decision on forest ecosystems has even been deleted from the package of draft decisions, and under agenda item 5.2 we only find a bracketed decision noting that the very important decisions of COP10 could not be implemented due to lack of funding. We see this as an indicator that the question of which COP decisions are being implemented and which not is more and more dependent on the willingness of donor countries and private sector donors to provide voluntary contributions, thus giving a disproportionate influence of these donors over biodiversity policy making.
We fully support the observation by Brazil that forest policy is much more than REDD+, and we thus call upon countries to ensure sufficient financial resources for forest policy in general, including the expanded program of work on forest biodiversity of the CBD itself, and we hope this will be discussed on Thursday, when the CBD is expected to discuss its own forest work program. It is clear the secretariat needs sufficient core budget to be able to implement all COP decisions in a balanced manner, including in the field of forests, where we feel that implementation of the decisions of COP9 and COP10, including the decision to contribute to the elaboration of appropriate forest definition that excludes monoculture tree plantations, should be a first priority of the CBD. Synergy between conventions is highly important, but this requires integrated approach to the implementation of the CBDs expanded program of work on forest biodiversity and any other forest-related policies rather than providing non-binding advice to non-binding safeguards.
Lastly, in the interest of time we would also like to briefly address agenda item 11.2 and express our support to the position of the CBD Alliance, which calls on Parties to Reaffirm and strengthen the de facto moratorium in 2010 by NOT permitting open-air geoeongineering experiments that impact biodiversity; and affirm that there is currently no transparent, global and effective regulatory structure for oversight of geoengineering activities, and the CBD is the appropriate body to oversee governance of geoengineering.
Thank you.
Simone Lovera
executive director
Global Forest Coalition
UN Intersessional Report: How will the Green Economy affect women?
(cross-posted) Keith Brunner from Gears of Change Youth Media Project reports back from the side event “Women’s critical perspectives on the ‘green economy” carried out during the UN Rio+20 intercessional (March25-27) at the UN headquarters in New York. The “green economy” will be a shot in the arm for ailing global markets- a rush of new commodities and investment frontiers, packaged neatly within a UN mandate for “sustainable development.” But how will it affect those who are already the most marginalized? This …
La Vía Campesina demands environmental and social justice, and respect for Mother Earth at the UN Conference on Climate Change (COP 16)
Españoles debajo Via Campesina Declaration in Cancún No agreement is better than a bad agreement: The people hold thousands of solutions in their hands Global Forum for Life, Environmental and Social Justice (December 4-10, 2010) (Photos, videos, news at www.viacampesina.org) Members of La Vía Campesina from more than thirty countries from all over the world united our thousands of struggles in Cancun to demand environmental and social justice, and respect for Mother Earth at the UN Conference on Climate Change (COP …
International Day of Action for Climate Justice
Press release – La Via Campesina See the full list of actions around the world (Cancun, 7 December 2010) Thousands of people affected by and concerned for the destruction of the environment, farmers, landless peasants, indigenous people and activists of all social sectors will take to the streets in Cancun as well as in other parts of the world as part of La Via Campesina’s Global Day of Action for Climate Justice on December 7. This march which will take …
Thousand solutions to climate change!
The people create thousands of solutions to confront climate change! Thousands of Cancuns for climate justice! La Via Campesina calls on social movements and all people to mobilize around the world.
Forests and Climate Change
Our Forests, Trees and Climate Change campaign opposes the corporate take-over of forest, biodiversity and climate policy-making at different governance levels, and focuses on the drivers of forest loss and land conversion to monoculture tree plantations that have arisen in the post-Paris Agreement climate mitigation context. This includes: Bioenergy generation and BECCS/geoengineering to meet renewable energy targets; Climate mitigation approaches centred around afforestation and reforestation with tree plantations, forest carbon offsets and other market-based schemes; Public subsidies and climate finance that …
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