THE INCLUSION OF SINKS HAS SUNK THE KYOTO PROTOCOL

World Rainforest Movement
Statement by Indigenous Peoples
Statement on Bonn

http://www.wrm.org.uy

The news have reached the entire world: the Kyoto Protocol has been saved! In spite of this information being formally true, it hides the fact that this does not mean that the planet's climate has been saved, which is the real issue at stake. On the contrary, as it now stands, while not solving the problem it was intended to address, the Kyoto Protocol will impose further impacts on local people through the implementation of carbon sink projects.

Though anticipated, it is sad to confirm that the Bonn meeting of the Convention on Climate Change was more focused on "sinks" than on "sources" of greenhouse gases. This means that instead of seeking means by which to reduce the use of fossil fuels --coal, petroleum and natural gas-- which are at the root of the greenhouse effect, climate negociators focused instead on means to avoid commitments on fossil-fuel emission reductions.

The meeting was held in a context where the United States -- responsible for 25% of the world's total greenhouse gas emissions-- publicly stated that it refused to comply with the commitments agreed to in Kyoto in 1997. Such context facilitated arm-twisting by a major polluter such as Japan, which was finally instrumental in reaching an agreement to "save" the protocol. The solution to "save" it was the inclusion of tree plantations as carbon sinks.

Climate negotiators chose to ignore the increasing number of scientific studies which question the capacity of tree plantations to be a long- term solution to climate change. They also chose to ignore that this mechanism will in fact result in a net increase of fossil-fuel emissions in the North. And they also opted to ignore the impacts that large-scale tree plantations have on people and the environment.

As a result, polluters will now have a license to pollute under the guise of implementing plantation projects to act as "sinks" for their emissions. Unless local opposition prevents them from doing so, most of these plantations will be implemented in the South, where trees grow much faster than in the North, thus being more "efficient" for carbon sequestration. At the same time, they will be much cheaper than in industrialized countries --where labour and land are more expensive-- and will receive all the necessary support from Southern governments --including repression of local opposition-- desperate to accept any investment which may leave some --however little-- money in the country.

To understand the threat that this will mean to people, soils, water and biodiversity, it is necessary to realize that this "solution" may result --to make theoretically sense from a climate perspective-- in hundreds of millions of hectares of fertile land being converted to large-scale plantations of fast growing species such as eucalyptus. In the South, those lands are already occupied by people, who depend on them for their subsistence. Those people's lands are therefore now under the threat of appropriation to make way to plantations. The areas to be occupied by these carbon garbage dumps host much of the world's biodiversity, much of which could be wiped out by large-scale monoculture plantations. At the same time, these would deplete water resources and result in dramatic changes in the soils where they are implemented.

In sum, with their decision to include plantations as carbon sinks, climate negotiators have not only not addressed the problem they were meant to address --climate change-- but have added new problems to millions of people who will now be facing the appropriation of their lands and resources for conversion to Northern carbon garbage dumps. The price for "saving" the process has clearly been too high and the inclusion of sinks has sunk the Kyoto Protocol and the hopes it had raised. It is now up to people and organizations really concerned with the Earth's future to stop the implementation of this false solution and to force governments to address seriously the issue of global climate change.

THE CARBON SHOP FILES

Prior to and during the Bonn meeting on climate change, a number of organizations expressed their views on the basically flawed nature of the climate negotiations and tried to push the process in the right direction. What follows are brief summaries of three relevant statements on the issue:

THE WRM APPEAL.

The World Rainforest Movement widely distributed before the meeting of the Conference of the Parties an appeal which was endorsed by more than 180 people and organizations during the first week after being issued, which among other things states that:

"To avoid the climate tragedy, it is essential that a total change of direction should take place --an ecological U-turn. It is clear to us that most governments --North and South-- do not appear to be willing to take decisive action. However, a reversal of the US positions is key at this time. The World Rainforest Movement urges in the strongest terms possible for organised civil society in all the countries of the world:

- to demand their governments not to accept the US government's blackmail and to pressure the US delegation to make it change its position

- to call out to industrialized country governments to assume their obligation and ensure maintenance of the planet's climatic stability through real cuts in fossil-fuel emissions

- to stress that if the price for an agreement on the Kyoto Protocol is to weaken it by including "carbon sinks" in the Clean Development Mechanism, then it would be much less harmful not to have a Kyoto Protocol at all

- to insist that the Convention on Climate Change's mandate is not to serve the economic interests of corporations but to save the Earth's climate from an impending disaster.

The full text is available at: http://www.wrm.org.uy/actors/CCC/appeal2001.htm

THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' BONN DECLARATION.

The Third International Forum of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities on Climate Change held on July 14-15 in Bonn produced a declaration (available in full at http://www.wrm.org.uy/actors/CCC/IPBonn.htm ). The following is a selection of quotes from the declaration:

"The discussions under the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol have totally excluded the indigenous peoples to the extent that neither recognizes the right of indigenous peoples to full and effective participation and to contribute to discussions and debates. This contrasts with other international processes which assure our participation and contribution within discussions.

The concepts, practices and measures that have been proposed as solutions to the problem of climate change, such as plantations, sinks and the carbon market, among others, will result in projects with negative and adverse effects on Indigenous Peoples, our territories and our ecosystems, and in violations of our rights as Indigenous Peoples.

We openly oppose the measures to mitigate climate change under discussion that are based essentially on a mercantilist and utilitarian vision of the forests, seas, territories and resources of Indigenous Peoples, which are being exclusively valued for their capacity to absorb CO2 and produce oxygen, and which negate our traditional cultural practices and spiritual values.

We, Indigenous Peoples reject the inclusion of sinks in the Clean Development Mechanism and the definition of sinks contemplated under the Kyoto Protocol and we oppose that the forests are considered solely for their carbon sequestration capacity.

We register our disagreement with proposals surrounding definitions including Afforestation, Deforestation and Reforestation proposed in the context of the UNFCCC. We express our grave concern that the UNFCCC ignores the concept of conservation, the importance of biodiversity, and the fundamental role of Indigenous Peoples in the management of our territories, forests and other ecosystems."

THE BONN STATEMENT ON CLIMATE CHANGE.

This statement, endorsed by a large number of mainly international organizations, was released during the UN climate summit in Bonn (July 16-27) and warned "against a further weakening and distortion of the Kyoto Protocol, as governments try to accommodate the irresponsible position of the US (and a growing number of other countries)."

The statement begins by stating that "current attempts to entice the US government to recommit to the Kyoto Protocol are likely to further accelerate the corruption of the Treaty. To save the Kyoto Protocol, talks should urgently shift focus from the current market mania, to discussing effective and fair solutions to climate change, beginning with domestic reductions of greenhouse gas emissions by the industrialised countries."

The statement (available at http://www.xs4all.nl/~ceo/climate/bonnstatement.htm ) finalises with the following call:

"We demand that industrialised countries drastically reduce their greenhouse gas emissions at home.

We demand that industrialised countries do not seek to escape their reduction commitments through market-based mechanisms such as Emissions Trading, Joint Implementation or the Clean Development Mechanism.

We call for a just transition to sustainable economies (through policies that protect workers and vulnerable communities), as well as for support for countries and communities threatened by catastrophic climate change.

We call for an end to fossil fuel subsidies and a moratorium on new oil exploration and drilling."