Krista Stryker
Nov 25, 2009
Australian Offset Projects Backfire in Indonesia
Friends of the Earth Australia and several other environmental groups demonstrated this week against the Australian government's proposal of a cheap forest carbon offset market.
The Australian government has proposed to set up a market for cheap carbon forest offsets as an option for emissions reductions in the international climate framework. Carbon offsets, called Reducing Emissions through Deforestation and Degradation (REDD), are a controversial proposal of the December 2009 climate talks in Copenhagen.
The government wants the offsets for Australian companies to be covered by the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, Australia's cap-and-trade system of emissions trading due to be set up in 2010. Australia already has one of the advanced forest carbon offset schemes set up in the Central Kalimantan in Indonesia.
"The main purpose of carbon offset schemes like the AusAid project in Kalimantan is to give polluting Australian companies a cheap offset option for their emissions. Aid money is being used to serve Australia’s own economic interests, not the long term interests of the people of Indonesia," said James Goodman of Friends of the Earth Sydney.
Demonstrators state that REDD projects are not the solution to combating climate change because the offsets from avoided deforestation may not be credible and don't accurately represent real emission reductions. They also fail to address the real causes of deforestation.
Villagers in the peatland area of Indonesia have appealed directly to the United Nations to stop all REDD offset projects, saying that the projects undermine the local people's sovereignty over resources.
Another protest was held on Wednesday, November 25,2009, in both countries to mark the launch of a joint AID/WATCH and FoE Australia report called 'What a Scam! Australia's REDD Offsets for Copenhagen.'
Jun 25, 2009
report exposes illegal logging in Cameroon
A report released by Friends of the Earth Netherlands finds that Cameroon-based company Cana Bois has been illegally logging timber on a large scale for the European market.
Illegally felled logs awaiting export to European markets. © Kate Davison
Amsterdam, June 17, 2009 - A report recently launched by Friends of the Earth Netherlands provides evidence that the Cameroon-based logging company Cana Bois has been illegally logging timber on a large scale for the European market. Some of the wood was sent to the Netherlands, Spain and France.
Friends of the Earth Netherlands, France and Cameroon examined the prohibited logging practices of Cana Bois, finding that the company has been logging illegally with the knowledge of local authorities since 2007. The plundered forest reserve is part of the Atlantic Equatorial Coastal Forests ecoregion and is home to a high variety of plant an animal species. In addition to logging, researchers found evidence of poaching in the area.
A law to end trade in illegally logged timber in the EU has been under way since 2003. In order to speed up the process, 27 USB sticks containing a spoken version of the report has been given to the Dutch Minister for Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality Verburg for the purpose of distribution to her fellow ministers at the next Agricultural Council on 22 and 23 June.
Anne van Schaik, campaign leader for Milieudefensie says, "this is yet another case of illegal logging and related trade to Europe. Since 2003 the European Union talks about solutions to this problem, but there is still no European legislation to stop trade in illegal timber. In the meantime, the looting of forests continues and the criminal trade in illegally harvested timber flourishes. This comes at the expense of companies that practise sustainable forest management."
Read the report here.
