Forest Protection.

Climate Talks Back $100 Billion Aid Fund, Forest Protection.

“Envoys at UN talks [in Cancun] agreed to a package[known as the Cancun Agreements] aimed at limiting global warming by protecting forests, advising nations on adapting to higher temperatures and opening a $100 billion Green Climate Fund…. The Fund would manage a ‘significant share’ of the $100 billion pledged last year in climate aid from richer to poorer nations….” [Bloomberg]

AFP addsthat “…the Fund will be steered by a board of 24 members chosen evenly from developed and developing nations. For the first three years, the new international organization would be overseen by the World Bank….The EU, Japan and the US since last year led pledges of $30 billion in immediate assistance, to rise to $100 billion a year to start by 2020. A broader issue is just how wealthy nations would raise the money, with few governments enthusiastic to commit such large amounts in tough economic times. Some envoys advocated taxing airplane and shipping fuel….” [Agence France Presse/Factiva]

ABC News reports that “…one of the key agreements from the Cancun climate summit is a deal to pay poor countries to stop chopping down their rainforests. The agreement, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD), was completed at the weekend…. One of the main sticking points was the possible inclusion of carbon markets to pay for forest protection but this has been left out…. The deal also offers Indigenous groups some limited protection that they will have access to the forests for cultural or traditional purposes….” [ABC News (Australia)]

Meanwhile, Dow Jones writes that “…the talks left in doubt the future of the Kyoto Protocol…. Japan indicated it doesn't intend to take on deeper emission-cutting obligations under a future treaty unless China and the US, too, pledge to shoulder a big chunk of the cost of a climate cleanup. China and the US say they are moving to slow their emissions growth voluntarily, through such moves as ramping up use of renewable energy. Both have declined to agree to mandatory emissions cuts….” [Dow Jones/Factiva]

Reuters adds that “…the world's governments face a new battle in South Africa in 2011 between rich and poor about slowing climate change… Cancun rejected calls by small island states, which fear they will be washed off the map by rising sea levels, to set a deadline for a treaty when environment ministers next meet in Durban, South Africa, in a year's time….Durban is likely to be the scene of a battle…about how to extend or replace the Kyoto Protocol….” [Reuters/Factiva]

Brazil: Amazon deforestation falls to new low

The figures suggest scenes like these are getting rarer in the Amazon

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has fallen to its lowest rate for 22 years, the government says.

Satellite monitoring showed about 6,450 sq km of (2,490 sq miles) of rainforest were cleared between August 2009 and July 2010, a drop of 14% compared with the previous 12 months.
Brazilian officials said the reduction was due to better monitoring and police control.
Environment minister Izabella Teixeira said the figures were "fantastic".
She said she would be "proud" to present the results at the UN Climate Change Conference currently taking place in Cancun, Mexico.
She added that Brazil was well on course to reduce deforestation to its target of 5,000 sq km of by 2017.
The latest figure still represents an area more than half the size of Lebanon or Jamaica.
But it is far lower than the peak of 27,772 sq km in 2004.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the reduction showed Brazil was "keeping its promises" on tackling global warming.
In 2005 President Lula pledged to reduce deforestation by 80% by 2020.
Global importance
Deforestation is thought to be responsible for about 20% of CO2 emissions worldwide.
The cutting and burning of trees in the Amazon has made Brazil a major contributor of the greenhouse gases that fuel global warming.
The latest data was published by the Brazilian space research institute (Inpe) which uses satellites to monitor deforestation in the Amazon.
The head of Inpe, Gilberto Camara, said the reduction was the result of "co-ordinated action", including greater control of illegal logging by Brazil's environment ministry and the federal police.
He also praised "responsible businesses" who had stopped buying beef and soya produced in deforested areas.
Mr Camara added that a programme that had given legal titles to about 300,000 landholders had also helped reduce the rate of forest clearance.
President Lula's government has also been promoting "extractive reserves" where local people can make a living from the forest without destroying it.
Environmental groups have warned that Brazil's soaring economic growth, as well as growing global demand for agricultural produce, could increase pressure on the Amazon rainforest in the coming years.