Deforestation could be slashed by up to 75 per cent a year under new proposals unveiled by Peter Ainsworth to put a price on the carbon stored in rainforests. Currently deforestation is responsible for 20 per cent of worldwide emissions, more than the world’s entire transport sector, and the proposals would not only result in a drastic reduction in emissions but also protect precious ecosystems.
The proposals set out in a consultation document are part of a two-part strategy to increase obligations on rich countries to buy sustainable timber and bio fuels and to create market opportunities for ecosystems.
Commenting on the consultation paper, Peter Ainsworth, Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, said:
“Deforestation is responsible for 20 per cent of worldwide emissions, if we serious about tackling climate change we must address the threat of deforestation. Creating a market value, through the Kyoto agreement, for keeping rainforests rather than cutting them down could be an impressive step towards doing this.”
He added:
“This process also needs to be supported by laws against illegal deforestation. Currently the British and EU laws do little to support legal traders and even less to clamp down on the illegal foresters.“
The consultation paper puts forward a package of measures which backs-up market opportunities with legal obligations. It considers proposals to:
make the possession of illegally logged timber an offence;
seek sustainability as well as legality by pushing for an EU wide definition of sustainable timber;
seek an EU ban for products which do not meet these criteria, to be phased to allow countries time to reach the required standard;
negotiate revised EU government procurement rules to ensure that public procurement meets these criteria in the meantime, thereby guaranteeing a market for sustainable timber;
develop and negotiate an accreditation scheme for biofuels covered by EU targets, to ensure proven carbon reduction and a local environmental impact assessment;
put a price on ecosystem services provided by the Rainforests, for example by including emissions trading credits from Avoided Deforestation within the Clean Development Mechanism;
ensure a robust market for voluntary carbon exists until inconsistencies within Kyoto and the EU Emissions Trading Scheme can be overcome.
The full consultation can be found here.
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