NGOs’solution: Greenpeace

Greenpeace is adamant. If we want to keep temperature rise below 2°C global emissions must be reduced by at least 50% by 2050, meaning that industrialised countries must cut their emissions by 30% before 2020 and 80% by 2050. The environmental organisation believes that the challenge can be met, but only if all round action is taken.

So although Greenpeace highlights the importance of cutting fossil fuel emissions, both in industrialised countries and in developing countries, a low carbon future will depend upon a move towards new clean technologies and a real commitment to drastically reducing deforestation.

According to Greenpeace, the Bali mandate cannot ignore that tropical forests contain up to 40% of the world’s terrestrial carbon. Their intrinsic and biodiversity values aside, they also play an important role in mitigating climate instability. Greenpeace expects deforestation to be brought to a halt within a decade. It’s proposed action plan comes under an acronym that sounds more like a face wash than a forest saving strategy. TDERM, presented by Greenpeace at a side meeting of the climate change conference in Bali, stands for Tropical Deforestation Emissions Reduction Mechanism and is a detailed ten-year strategy to cut emissions from deforestation.

Basically the plan proposes that rich countries be able to buy Tropical deforestation emission reduction units (TDERUs) from forest owning countries. Rich countries would be able to meet a certain percentage of their total emission reduction targets while providing the compensation to forest owning countries for not cutting down their trees.

But the TDERM action plan is not meant as an alternative to other carbon slashing efforts and Greenpeace expects that the Bali mandate will:

• Include more countries in the Kyoto emission trading regime, in particular countries with high per capita incomes like South Korea, Singapore and Saudi Arabia should adopt binding emission limitation targets from 2013;
• Enable developing countries to join the international trading system if they want to;
• Assist the development of a massive new Clean technology development mechanism aimed at switching to clean, efficient, renewable technology, especially in developing countries;
• Provide funds for climate adaptation, especially to those societies who contributed least to the problem.

More info:
www.greenpeace.org