Deforestation So Sadly

The European Commission has presented a Communication on deforestation which sets out the EU's response to the challenge of climate change. It proposes that at the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) negotiations on the future climate regime, the EU calls for halting global forest cover loss by 2030 at the latest and reducing gross tropical deforestation by at least 50% by 2020 from current levels. This objective would provide major climate change and biodiversity benefits by 2020.

The Commission proposes to work in the international negotiations on climate change towards the development of a Global Forest Carbon Mechanism, a financial mechanism through which developing countries would be rewarded for emissions reductions achieved by taking action to reduce deforestation and forest degradation.

Simultaneously, the Communication identifies possible ways for the EU to contribute to such a mechanism. It also addresses policies that need to be reinforced in the fields of trade, energy, agriculture, food security and development cooperation in order to ensure a coherent policy response to address deforestation and forest degradation. The Communication also indicates that at EU level an appropriate level of funding is required from 2013 to 2020 to fight deforestation. The total amount of funding will depend on the level of mitigation actions undertaken by developing countries.

1) What is deforestation and forest degradation?

Deforestation refers to the destruction and conversion of forest land to other land uses usually considered more profitable. Forest degradation is used to mean the destruction of specific aspects of forests such as a decrease in tree cover, changes in their structure or a reduction in the number of species that can be found there.

2) What is the extent of the problem?

Forests cover roughly 30% of the world's land area. According to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), the annual rate of deforestation is about 13 million hectares per year (approximately the size of Greece). Three percent of the earth's forest cover was lost between 1990 and 2005 and there has been no significant decrease in the rate of deforestation over the past 20 years. Some 96% of deforestation occurs in tropical regions.

3) What are the causes of deforestation and forest degradation?

Deforestation can occur as a result of direct and indirect economic, institutional, political, natural or social factors. Their importance varies among countries and regions, within countries themselves and can change over time. The causes of deforestation often originate outside the forestry sector, thus making it challenging to find a global solution.

Some of the main direct causes include changes in land uses for agricultural purposes, mining, and infrastructure development. Indirect causes include institutional and governance weakness, such as the unclear definition of land tenure and property rights, weak law enforcement capacity, incentives to convert forest land to other uses, and insufficient human resources to monitor forests. The underlying cause of governance failure is that the benefits derived from forest conservation and sustainable forest management are often not marketable, and have no commercial value.

4) Which countries are affected by the Communication?

The Communication addresses deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries, as agreed in the Bali Action Plan, within the context of the post-2012 climate change negotiations. This means that mainly tropical and subtropical forested ecosystems are targeted by this proposal. It should be kept in mind that 96% of the recent global deforestation has occurred - and is still occurring - in tropical regions, where 70% of the world's species are found. By targeting countries with tropical forests, the policy will address not only reduction of CO2 emissions but also biodiversity conservation, which is crucial to support poverty reduction strategies at local and national level.

5) Who will be responsible for implementing the actions proposed in the Communication?

Responsibilities for actions on the ground to implement effective forest management and increase and maintain forested areas remain with the national and local authorities of the countries concerned, i.e. countries hosting tropical forest resources. However, developed and industrialised countries have a responsibility to ensure coherence in their policies. This includes addressing issues such as the impact of market demand for commodities such as palm oil on the current deforestation rate.

6) How can we stop deforestation and, at the same time, guarantee food security?

There are tensions between the need to increase food production, feed a growing world population and halt deforestation. Agricultural production should be increased without further deforestation. This requires improved land planning and substantial investment to increase yields on existing farmland. Stepping up agricultural research to enhance agricultural productivity growth in a sustainable manner is another line to pursue.