Climate Change: Financing Global Forests

Lauched on 14 October 2008, the Eliasch Report is an independent report to government, that focuses on ways to lead to effective reductions in forest carbon emissions, so as to stabilise greenhouse gases and the money required to do this successfully.

What the Eliasch Report suggests

1     Urgent action to tackle the loss of global forests must be central to future international climate change deal in Copenhagen 2009.

2     CO2 stabilisation rates are not achievable without action

3     International climate change deal should aim to halve deforestation emissions by 2020 and make forest sector carbon neutral by 2030

4     Include forestry sector in global carbon markets, which will lower costs of reducing global carbon emissions

5     Developing countries will need substantial support for capacity building to prepare for entry into forest credit scheme

Identified drivers of deforestation

Forests are worth more to landowners cut down than standing - the cost of lost forest carbon are not reflected in the price of products made from converted forest land The increase in biofuels are adding pressure for forest clearance Tax breaks and subsidies in many rainforest nations Increasing pressure for timber and agricultural land