Dearest Friends and Family,
One of the most heart-wrenching things I have seen is the presence of some very young children, particularly a young boy working with NGO’s deeply sincere and committed to climate change awareness among party delegates, pounding away at his computer. The unconscious behavior of the last 4 generations has taken away the childhood, even the ability to play from our children. We allowed an unbridled media to infect and induct them into false values - of greed, of sexuality, of intoxicants, of short sighted ideals, and they rolled with the punches, but now, the playground is getting messed up, and they are standing up all over the world. It is heart-breaking to see these babes, their mother’s milk still on their breath, being forced to leave their childhoods to redirect misguided and besotted adults towards a path of dharma. Its hard to believe that the people negotiating here have any concerns for the Children of the Earth.
We wanted to share with you the concerns of Youth over the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) Text in a statement put out by them this morning. Forests were added on to the negotiations in Montreal, 2005, but in a way that does nothing to protect them [SCA and SBSTA refer to two committees appointed in Montreal to study the scientific data and suggest methodologies to the negotiations]. This is their statement:
“The Youth are in Copenhagen to secure a climate deal to protect our future. We are here to make sure that developed countries commit to science-based reductions in their greenhouse gas emissions and get a commitment form all countries to work to protect the world’s forests.
REDD must protect intact natural forests, restore degraded natural forests and support Indigenous peoples and local communities in developing countries who wish to reduce their emissions from deforestation and forest degradation through a fair and substantial funding mechanism.
We have everything to lose if we do not achieve this. Please do not let us down.
We have grave fears over the current REDD deal. We are worried because the SCA and SBSTA REDD text does not:
Secure the rights and interests of indigenous peoples and forest dependent communities who lived in and have taken care of these forests in accordance with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People;
Specifically state that REDD will prioritize protecting intact natural forests and restoring degraded forests;
Rule out incentivizing the conversion of natural forests to plantations;
Rule out providing funds, incentives or rights ot carbon credits to logging companies who practice so called Sustainable Forest Management;
Exclude REDD forest credits from the carbon maket and include serious commitments from developed countries to provide funds of a similar scare to the recent financial recovery efforts during the global financial crisis;
And despite our numerous attempts (and several t-shirts!) the REDD deal still does not have a forest definition that distinguishes between natural forests and plantations which are an agricultural tree crop, not a forest.
The destruction of forests accounts for around 20 % of global greenhouse gas emissions. We cannot secure a safe climate without reducing these emissions as well as fossil fuel emissions. REDD should facilitate sustainable development, reduce poverty and respond to climate change in developing country Parties rather than be a way to help developed country Parties to fulfill their commitments to reduce emissions.
If you do not commit to fixing the fraft REDD deal we will lose confience in your ability to secure a safe furture for us and for future generations.
PLEASE DO NOT LET US DOWN. WE NEED YOU TO ACT ON OUR BEHALF TODAY AND MAKE THESE CRITICAL CHANGES TO THE REDD TEXT.
For more information or to arrange a meeting with the Youth’s forest working group in Copenhagen contact youthforests@gmail.com
END of Youth statement to Party Delegates, Dec. 12, 2009
These Youth are the only ones here who are struggling on behalf of commonsense, on behalf of all humanity. Please pray for the clear thinking of the UN party delegates.
Loving you,
Aunty Kamala
Leave a Reply