Wealthy Countries Create Program to Reduce Deforestation... Indonesia Pledges Two Year Moratorium

     Recently, wealthy nations came together in Oslo, Norway to develop a program designed to aid poor countries in stopping deforestation and slowing global warming. The participating nations included the United States, Britain, Australia, Germany, France, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, which altogether agreed to set aside approximately $4 billion for the program. The program is called REDD Plus (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) and encourages wealthy countries to fund projects to stop deforestation. An agency will be created to oversee the program, which organizers hope to have up and running by the time world leaders meet for the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Mexico at the end of the year. Sadly, deforestation is believed to account for 20% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions, which is astonishingly as much as is released by our methods of transportation such as, cars, trains, boats, and planes.

“Forests are worth more dead than alive. Today we commit to change that equation,” said the Prime Minister of Norway, Jens Stoltenberg, who co-chaired the conference that was held in Oslo, Norway.

     Additional progress was made at the Oslo conference in which Indonesia agreed to put a two year moratorium on issuing further permits for deforestation in their country. This comes as part of a one billion dollar agreement with Norway, in which Norway will pay Indonesia a fixed price per ton of carbon dioxide emissions reduced through the preservation of Indonesian rainforests. Believe it or not, due to the high amount of deforestation that occurs in Indonesia, the country is ranked the world’s third highest greenhouse gas polluter, behind the United States and China. Indonesia is the world leader in the production of palm oil and also plays a big role in the paper and timber industries. Even though this project seems like it will work successfully, there are many who remain skeptical that the plans will not be carried out effectively. Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono explained, “Indonesia understands the necessity of doing its part to face the urgent global challenge of combating climate change.” Unfortunately Indonesian leaders, although claiming they want to tackle climate change, have participated in contradictory actions, such as recently supporting extensive development in forested regions. Even so, there is a possibility that if successful, Indonesia might extend the moratorium past the two planned years.

     Let’s hope that members of wealthy nations continue to show strong support for preventing deforestation. I only wish that progress like this (assuming all goes as planned), was made quicker and without corruption. Why doesn’t the United States government come out and inform the public of efforts like these… you tell me…? All I can say is, if the government was more vocal about their plans to help protect the world’s rainforests, then maybe more people would join in the fight (although I doubt that the government has many plans… for most Presidents have done little on this matter, except Theodore Roosevelt and a few others). Even though this might be one small step, the government should do more to protect our crucial rainforests, for not only do they provide shelter to millions of species of animals, but they also contain millions of plant species, including some that may have great curing capabilities. As you likely know, there are many websites and organizations available for you to donate to and buy your own acre(s) of rainforest. I strongly encourage you do so! Let’s not forget to applaud Norway for taking the initiative to fund a program to help stop the destruction of Indonesian forests!