The COP 15 Negotiations on Climate Change
December 8, 2009
A statement by Wangari Maathai:
The COP15 in Copenhagen kicked off with welcome remarks from the Prime Minister of Denmark, Mr. Lars Rasmussen, who emphasized the need for an ambitious, fair, just and binding agreement. He further revealed that about 110 heads of states would attend the conference – a strong demonstration of the political will from governments. Others who addressed the conference at the opening ceremony were Ms Ritt Bjerregaard - the Mayor of Copenhagen, the chairman of the IPCC - Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, and the Secretary General of the COP15 - Yvo de Boer.
In many countries, the negative impact of climate change may come in form of drying up rivers, melting glaciers on Mountains, erratic rains, devastating floods and melting polar ice. It may also come in form of failing crops, hunger, parched fields, dying livestock and wildlife. Scientific evidence shows that in the future such consequences will have even greater force, frequency and unpredictability.
In East Africa it is possible that these impacts of climate change contributed to recent failure of rains and the subsequent crop failure, famine, water and energy crisis. However, it is also possible that climate change could only have exacerbated a situation that was already vulnerable due to longtime neglect of the environment, especially forests, rivers and watersheds. For decades, governments and citizens have been urged to protect these natural resources, in vain. Failure to abandon the shamba system, human settlements, overgrazing of livestock in forests, practicing unsustainable agricultural techniques like slash-and-burn on farms, and failure to do terracing to stop soil erosion will also have contributed.
Where monocultures of exotic trees like the pines or the eucalyptus (shamba system) have been entrenched, local biodiversity of plants and animals disappear. When grasses like the Kikuyu grass takes over, and livestock are allowed to graze, it becomes virtually impossible for the re-establishment of the original forests. This is because no seeds can fall on the grass and reach the ground to germinate or even come from underneath the thick carpet of grass. These are some of the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation.
Environmental services provided by forests include the capacity of forests to sequester carbon, sustain rich biodiversity, harvest rain water, feed the underground water reservoirs, control rainfall patterns and micro-climate and conserve the soil. The micro-climate and rainfall patterns are important for agriculture especially savannah grasslands, which contain, sustain and enhance wildlife, so essential for tourism. Rivers are also important for generation of hydro-power.
Issues that degrade forests will indeed provide some of the ambiguities, difficulties and risks that REDD will face in many developing countries. Developing countries, including Kenya, are negotiating for a mechanism that should include forests that are not degraded and should therefore address these drivers.
The recent statement from former President Moi to the effect that tea estates and monocultures of exotic or crop trees are the same as forests, demonstrate the difficulties that REDD will face in some developing countries where leaders are not fully informed or are ignorant of the facts. In such a situation loggers, ranchers and plantation growers will claim compensation from REDD mechanism even though they are contributing to reduction of capacity of this forests to sequester carbon. It is very important that national policy on effective steps to ensure successive REDD mechanism be put in place by an informed legislature. A legislature which is not well informed can easily mislead the country and frustrate the goals of the REDD mechanism.
Calls to manage our resources more sustainably and responsibly have been ignored by leaders and citizens alike for decades. At this time nobody can claim that they do not know (although it was surprising to hear former President Moi state that tea estates perform the same functions as indigenous forests and a Member of Parliament claim that rains and forests have no relationship!). So, perhaps some people are genuinely ignorant? Either way, we ignore these warnings at our own peril.
Addressing the environmental challenges, especially those facing forests will take collective political will. This is a challenge for the current political leadership. The Prime Minister deserves to be supported not threatened. He is doing what is right for the country.
As the world spends the next two weeks in Copenhagen and the ongoing climate change negotiations it is hoped that there will be agreements on support for a just, ambitious and legally-binding deal, which should include a global financial mechanism, support for reforestation, reduced deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+), and equitable governance structures to channel the financial. It is important to ensure that such resources are accessable in good time, are efficiently and equitably, disbursed and inclusivity, transparency and accountability are ensured.
The COP15 in Copenhagen kicked off with welcome remarks from the Prime Minister of Denmark, Mr. Lars Rasmussen, who emphasized the need for an ambitious, fair, just and binding agreement. He further revealed that about 110 heads of states would attend the conference – a strong demonstration of the political will from governments. Others who addressed the conference at the opening ceremony were Ms Ritt Bjerregaard - the Mayor of Copenhagen, the chairman of the IPCC - Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, and the Secretary General of the COP15 - Yvo de Boer.
In many countries, the negative impact of climate change may come in form of drying up rivers, melting glaciers on Mountains, erratic rains, devastating floods and melting polar ice. It may also come in form of failing crops, hunger, parched fields, dying livestock and wildlife. Scientific evidence shows that in the future such consequences will have even greater force, frequency and unpredictability.
In East Africa it is possible that these impacts of climate change contributed to recent failure of rains and the subsequent crop failure, famine, water and energy crisis. However, it is also possible that climate change could only have exacerbated a situation that was already vulnerable due to longtime neglect of the environment, especially forests, rivers and watersheds. For decades, governments and citizens have been urged to protect these natural resources, in vain. Failure to abandon the shamba system, human settlements, overgrazing of livestock in forests, practicing unsustainable agricultural techniques like slash-and-burn on farms, and failure to do terracing to stop soil erosion will also have contributed.
Where monocultures of exotic trees like the pines or the eucalyptus (shamba system) have been entrenched, local biodiversity of plants and animals disappear. When grasses like the Kikuyu grass takes over, and livestock are allowed to graze, it becomes virtually impossible for the re-establishment of the original forests. This is because no seeds can fall on the grass and reach the ground to germinate or even come from underneath the thick carpet of grass. These are some of the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation.
Environmental services provided by forests include the capacity of forests to sequester carbon, sustain rich biodiversity, harvest rain water, feed the underground water reservoirs, control rainfall patterns and micro-climate and conserve the soil. The micro-climate and rainfall patterns are important for agriculture especially savannah grasslands, which contain, sustain and enhance wildlife, so essential for tourism. Rivers are also important for generation of hydro-power.
Issues that degrade forests will indeed provide some of the ambiguities, difficulties and risks that REDD will face in many developing countries. Developing countries, including Kenya, are negotiating for a mechanism that should include forests that are not degraded and should therefore address these drivers.
The recent statement from former President Moi to the effect that tea estates and monocultures of exotic or crop trees are the same as forests, demonstrate the difficulties that REDD will face in some developing countries where leaders are not fully informed or are ignorant of the facts. In such a situation loggers, ranchers and plantation growers will claim compensation from REDD mechanism even though they are contributing to reduction of capacity of this forests to sequester carbon. It is very important that national policy on effective steps to ensure successive REDD mechanism be put in place by an informed legislature. A legislature which is not well informed can easily mislead the country and frustrate the goals of the REDD mechanism.
Calls to manage our resources more sustainably and responsibly have been ignored by leaders and citizens alike for decades. At this time nobody can claim that they do not know (although it was surprising to hear former President Moi state that tea estates perform the same functions as indigenous forests and a Member of Parliament claim that rains and forests have no relationship!). So, perhaps some people are genuinely ignorant? Either way, we ignore these warnings at our own peril.
Addressing the environmental challenges, especially those facing forests will take collective political will. This is a challenge for the current political leadership. The Prime Minister deserves to be supported not threatened. He is doing what is right for the country.
As the world spends the next two weeks in Copenhagen and the ongoing climate change negotiations it is hoped that there will be agreements on support for a just, ambitious and legally-binding deal, which should include a global financial mechanism, support for reforestation, reduced deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+), and equitable governance structures to channel the financial. It is important to ensure that such resources are accessable in good time, are efficiently and equitably, disbursed and inclusivity, transparency and accountability are ensured.