Speech at the High Level Meeting on Forests and Climate
23 July 2007, Sydney
Outcomes and Next Steps
Ministers, Ambassadors and distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen:
I want to thank you for coming to Australia to attend this High Level Meeting on forests and climate. The attendance and participation here of so many countries is a testament to the global nature of climate change and the vital part our forests play in the global carbon cycle.
Climate change is a serious challenge, and there are five pillars to Australia's international response.
First, we seek a new global agreement on climate change with mitigation action by all major emitters.
Second, climate change will be a key focus for Asian-Pacific leaders at APEC Summit in September in Sydney.
Third, Australia is driving cooperation on low-emissions technology with key countries through the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate.
Fourth, Australia is working bilaterally with the United States, China and other key countries to advance practical climate change responses.
As part of this effort Australia's aid program is set to increase funding for climate change work in areas such as energy efficiency, renewable energy, and sustainable forest and river basin management. To this end, I will release shortly a new environment strategy for Australia's aid programme that builds on our past successes and will ensure that environment becomes and even greater element of Australia's international assistance efforts.
Fifth, Australia is committed to work on reforestation and sustainable forest management through our Global Initiative on Forests and Climate, which is what brings us all here today.
Our forests are an enormous reservoir of carbon. Indeed there is more carbon in the world's trees than in its atmosphere. Unfortunately we are raiding this bank. Net deforestation currently contributes some 20 per cent to global greenhouse gas emissions. Actions that avoid deforestation and promote reforestation have great potential to mitigate the impact of climate change. If we could halve the rate of global deforestation, we could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 10 per cent, or 3 billion tonnes a year.
Australia is a good example of how avoiding deforestation can make a valuable contribution to the fight against climate change. In Australia, revised regulations on land clearing and our efforts to promote reforestation are expected to reduce emissions from deforestation by 65 per cent over the Kyoto period (1990-2012). This is an important reason as to why Australia is tracking to meet its Kyoto target. It demonstrates also that action on forests can mitigate climate change.
Protecting the world's forests is integral to any solution on global climate change. The utility of today's meeting has been to provide an informal setting in which we could share our experiences with promoting sustainable forest management as well as learn from the experiences of others.
Today we talked about the various drivers behind deforestation that arise from the competing demands our societies place on land use. Drivers of deforestation include the economic value timber extraction brings to communities, the demand for new farming land and the demand for fuel wood. A comprehensive approach to forest sustainability needs to take into account the complex interests of our communities. Our forests policies should both support development and achieve positive climate and environment outcomes.
Today we discussed the merit of donors doing more to assist countries with tropical forests to avoid deforestation.
Reforestation is also an integral part of the response to the global challenge on forests and climate. In certain circumstances, reforestation projects can be an economically attractive form of mitigating climate change. At present, deforestation is responsible for 8.2 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. Reforestation already helps absorb 2.7 billion tonnes of these emissions.
There are obviously broader benefits to work on forests and climate. In particular, tropical forests are home to 70 per cent of the Earth's plant and animal species. The conservation of forests is central to preserving biodiversity.
Today's discussions have been constructive and demonstrate the value of maintaining an informal dialogue on forests and climate. For donor countries, it has been useful to hear the interests and the challenges that forested countries face in achieving sustainable forests. I trust it has also been constructive for forest countries to hear the experiences of others facing similar challenges.
Most of the tropical rainforests of the world can be found in three major regions: the Congo Basin, the Amazonian Basin, and the Asia Pacific Region. Successfully protecting the world's remaining great forests and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation will require countries and donors to work together. Australia has demonstrated its commitment through a pledge of $200 million as part of our Global Initiative on forests and climate to help forest countries.
Australia has long established working relationships with our neighbours in Asia and the Pacific in trade, economic development, and forestry. Therefore, this region will be the central focus of Australia's efforts under the Global Initiative. In doing so, we will seek to harmonise our efforts in the Asia-Pacific with other parties in the region.
Earlier today Mr Turnbull and I announced the first assistance measures under this Initiative, comprising an initial $10 million package with Indonesia.
This package will support the development of a national framework for avoided deforestation approaches in Indonesia. Australian support will also improve Indonesia's forest monitoring systems, provide access to remote sensing information and build the capacity to use this information. This initial package will also support Indonesian efforts to improve the management of forest and peat land fires, which are one of the single greatest sources of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.
Today, we have also discussed the potential for non-Government resources and markets to finance avoided deforestation and reforestation measures. To a limited degree this is already happening, and there is clearly potential for markets to play a greater role in the future. Now is a good time for countries to begin to trial incentive programmes and Australia is committed to working with individual forest countries to pilot such measures. Development assistance has an important role in trialling the design of avoided deforestation programs. The lessons we learn should provide an excellent basis for the international community to consider ways to tap into carbon markets in the future.
Tomorrow the dialogue will continue with a focus on the World Bank's Forest Carbon Partnership Facility. Australia welcomes the initiative of the World Bank, through the G8, to promote the development of a robust financial market to support avoided deforestation in the context of forests and climate. I am pleased to announce today that Australia will pledge US$10 million [A$11.7 million] to this multi-donor partnership.
The contribution to the World Bank's Forest Carbon Partnership Facility will help developing countries to create credible estimates of national forest carbon stocks, identify sources of forest emissions and develop incentives for conserving forests and investing in sustainable forest management. The contribution recognises the World Bank's experience in managing carbon funds and developing innovative approaches to carbon financing. The World Bank and Australia share similar objectives in working with developing countries to conserve forests and promote reforestation.
On our final day of this High Level Meeting, we will hold a dialogue with civil society, including international NGOs and business groups. NGOs have the relationships on the ground to assist communities manage their forests sustainability and develop alternative livelihoods. They can build the capacity of local governments to protect and monitor forests. The private sector can bring technical and practical expertise to developing new approaches to protecting our forests and there should be some interesting discussion about how we can all collaborate.
We will leave Sydney thinking about how we can strengthen existing efforts, and build new, strategic networks to progress our dialogue on forests and climate. I commend all states and organisations attending this meeting to cooperate on deforestation in the lead up to the Thirteenth Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC, taking place in Bali in December of this year.
There is a fresh international momentum to address forests and climate and Australia will do what it can to support this momentum.
We would be happy to host another informal meeting on forests and climate next year, when early results and lessons learned from designing piloted avoided deforestation programs have been forthcoming.
I thank each of you for your participation in the High Level Meeting on Forests and Climate. We have a formidable challenge ahead and it requires of us a collective and practical response. I look forward to working with you in this endeavour.