avaaz: The great forest scam, och finland och sverige är med och styr och ställer

[Emelie Wolke]

 

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Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2010 13:05:44 -0400
From: av...@avaaz.org
Subject: The great forest scam
To: emelie...@hotmail.com

Dear friends around Europe,

Already stumbling, global climate talks could fail completely unless European politicians back strong protections for forests. Send a message to your Environment Minister urging them to be a climate leader and block accounting tricks for forests:

Next week, a small group of European countries are planning to create a massive loophole that would further undermine the prospects of the upcoming climate treaty talks. n EU outcry now could halt their plan and re-energise work on a climate deal.

Since the Copenhagen summit, global climate negotiations have been on the brink of collapse, and a breakthrough is urgently needed. Now, Sweden, Finland and Austria are leading a push for an accounting trick that would let rich countries cut down as many trees as they wanted -- without having to report the increased climate damage.

Other European countries can stop the creation of this loophole, leave the international race to the bottom and take on the climate leadership role that the world so desperately needs. But without public pressure, there’s no incentive for them to lead. Let’s come together now, as European citizens, and send a flood of messages to our Environment Ministers urging them to be bold on climate and make forests count. The meeting is next week -- click below to send your message, then forward this email around to your friends and family:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/eu_trees_not_tricks/?vl

The negotiation over the forest loophole comes at a pivotal time. Political momentum on climate change has slowed -- while the climate crisis itself has grown worse. 2010 has been the hottest year ever on record, with a rising tide of climate-related disasters from Pakistan to Russia.

Forests are the lungs of our planet, sustaining people, animals and plants worldwide. They’re also a potential life-saver in the fight against climate change. But they’re threatened: deforestation already contributes to 20% of all global greenhouse gas emissions. We can’t let a handful of countries undermine efforts to protect them, exploiting forests to avoid taking on real action to protect our common future.

If we can stiffen Europe’s backbone to tackle this issue, we can inject new hope into the climate negotiations that will shape the world we all live on. Let’s show European politicians that their citizens want them to lead the way -- send a message now, then forward this email widely:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/eu_trees_not_tricks/?vl

In the wake of the recession, the European Union has suffered a crisis of confidence on climate -- too paralyzed by fear of failure to resume its historic role in pressing the world forward. We know that Europe can lead the way on forest protection, because it’s done so before: earlier this year European citizens and leaders played a pivotal role in curbing the devastating trade in illegal timber.

In the sustainable future that we all seek, forests will be accorded the same respect by governments that they have always received from the world’s people. As we build a movement capable of overcoming climate change, let’s use this moment to protect the trees that have protected humankind for millennia.

With hope,

Ben, Iain, Alex, Graziela, Ben M, Mia, David and the rest of the Avaaz team.

Sources:

Cheating Countries Threaten Efforts to Save Forests: http://adoptanegotiator.org/2010/06/05/cheating-countries-threaten-efforts-to-save-forests/

Closing Loopholes and Bridging Gaps: http://blogs.worldwatch.org/revolt/closing-loopholes-and-bridging-gaps-after-bonn

Make Forests Count: http://makeforestscount.org/problem.php


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