Brazil Makes Progress Protecting Amazon

Chac Mool takes it easy in Cancun

More: The disarray over the future of the Kyoto Protocol threatens even a final draft of the REDD agreement. Russia joined Japan in publicly announcing it would not sign on to a continuation of the only binding agreement in existence for slowing global warming. Canada is named as a third country working privately against extending the Kyoto agreement. The problem continues to be the economic gap between rich and poor nations. Rich nations are expected to pay for avoided emissions in the developing world, but actual payments have been slow in coming. At an event intended to celebrate the progress being made against deforestations the financing issue was outed publicly in an exchange between Norway's prime minister and Guyana's president. Guyana was promised $250 million to preserve its entire rainforest, an area about the size of England {"Guyana"}. However, there is no sign of the first payment of $30 million even though Guyana has met the preconditions. The slow payment by Norway is becoming a political nightmare for President Jagdeo. He told the audience, "It's a nightmare.  It is a test of the sincerity of the developed world, and the delivery on the development assistance has been abysmal." Norway's Stoltenberg suggested the slow payment was due to his country's insistence on results. US negotiators also demand that a system to monitor and verify emission cuts be put into place. Despite the bureaucratic problems, big business generally endorses efforts to preserve forests as a shortcut method to doing something about climate change. Developed countries have pledged $4.5bn for forest conservation projects. President Jagdeo called the complicated process to obtain assistance "humiliating".

Update:{8.12.10}Negotiators at the Cancun climate conference are closing in on an agreement to take strong action against tropical deforestation. According to the US representative, a draft agreement has been presented for ministerial approval. The REDD ("reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation") agreement negotiations began in Bali three years ago and have entered a final, crucial stage. If a final agreement is reached, it would be a major accomplishment for a conference not expected to produce much progress on combating global warming. Deforestation is considered to be responsible for about 15% of the world's warming pollution.

Burning forest in Para State, Brazil (ENS)

{6.12.10}Brazil's space agency INPE, said in its annual report that deforestation of the Amazon Basin reached a record low of 2,490 square mile between August 2009 and July 2010, marking the third consecutive year deforestation has reached new lows. President Lula da Silva said at a press conference the good news will be presented to the Cancun climate conference "to raise the tone of the international negotiations". Deforestation is a critical part of Brazil's efforts to reduce national emissions. Official calculations are that meeting deforestation targets could reduce Brazil's emissions by up to 24.7%. Brazil is taking a leading role in the creation of protected areas in tropical forests. Nearly 75% of the 700,000 square kilometers of protected areas worldwide since 2003 are located in Brazil. President Lula is proud of Brazil's move from a global warming culprit to a leader in emissions reduction among developing nations. Part of the credit goes to Norway, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, which agreed to give Brazil as much as $1 billion over five years to reduce deforestation. The funding has allowed compensation of farmers, ranchers and others whose living depends on clearing forest. Norway's contribution to protect tropical forests dwarfs the United States by a ratio of 100 to 1 per capita.

While Brazil is brought good news to the 16th UN climate conference, Japan shocked it last Monday with a show of petulance, telling delegates that it will not abide by the Kyoto Protocol beyond its expiration in 2012. Japan is irked that the two major emitters, United States and China, have failed to ratify the agreement since it was adopted in December 1997. The Kyoto agreement went into effect in February 2005, and as of 2010 191 nations have ratified the protocol. Environmentalists are appalled at Japan's unexpected lack of commitment. The US representative said the United States remains committed to the President's pledge of a 17% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions below 2005 levels by 2020. That pledge is significantly less than what the Kyoto Protocol provides--an average 5.2% above 1990 levels for 37 industrialized countries.