The convention: to be or not to be The one agenda item on which there was no agreement was the need for a forest convention. Whereas a number of countries, including bigwigs from g-7 7 like Malaysia, Indonesia, China and the eu and Canada, supported action towards a forest convention, the opposition from the us to the convention, delayed consensus. Canada and eu, the most vocal proponents specified that negotiations should be finalised by the year But their determination was matched by strong sentiments of the opponents like Brazil.
Southern ngo s, urged by the New Delhi based Centre for Science and Environment, signed a statement which denounced the move for a forest convention saying that it was premature, leading to ineffective policies and would formalise the lowest common denominator for sustainable forest management. This was a radical shift in the position of these groups who till a year ago had demanded a convention as the only way to protect the world's forests. The ipf recommendations to csd, given below consisted of a menu of options.
But importantly it was stated that these options "were not necessarily mutually exclusive". Which means the csd could choose a mishmash of all: l To continue intergovernmental policy dialogue on forests within existing fora like csd and existing institutions like Food and Agriculture Organisation and the biodiversity and climate conventions l To establish an ad hoc open ended intergovernmental forum on forests under csd - in other words, give the two year ad hoc panel a long lease of life and confirm the jobs of the staff on the panel.
This panel would either build consensus for a decision on a legally binding convention by and its various elements or consider the need for other arrangements and mechanisms l To begin work on a legally binding instrument on all types of forests with a focused and tight time schedule Ball in the UN Assembly's court The ipf recommendations took up a fair amount of csd 's time.
The discussion was at the highest level. The meeting was chaired by Mostafa Tolba, head of csd and former head of the United Nations Environment Programme who has enormous personal skills in bringing countries to the negotiating table. The group came out with a new draft paper which was a watered down statement of intent on global forest policy. It endorsed national action, supported the forest principles agreed to in Rio, begged for international cooperation to implement ipf proposals and sought further "clarification" on all issues arising from ipf.
But there was no consensus on the convention. The ipf was given a new lease of life. The only issue was what should ipf do - study and monitor global forest policy or work towards a legal framework. But the entire section on ipf is bracketed - un parlance for text on which there is "no agreement. The convention is therefore, driven by commercial interests. The vested interests behind the lip service to conservation is to get the same timber industry certified as 'green'.
The convention would be used to legitimise this green trade by setting global rules and penalties for sustainable forest management. The North has always controlled the world timber market. However, environmentalism is taking a toll of this lucrative industry. On the other hand, the Southern companies are making inroads with an advantage of their own; a climate in which trees grow faster.
Decentralisation: the best option The environmental organisation, Greenpeace, opposing the convention, says, "politicians are out trophy hunting. Conventions are big game which create the impression of action with the public, even where none may exist. Top COP26 stories: China and the US reach emissions deal; aviation sector seeks sustainable jet fuels; call for global agreement on sustainability reporting standards.
I accept. Take action on UpLink. Forum in focus. Deforestation causes almost as much greenhouse gas emissions as global road travel. Here is how we can help halt it. Read more about this project. Explore context. Explore the latest strategic trends, research and analysis. Have you read? Senegal is planting millions of mangrove trees to fight deforestation These charts show just how much forest we're losing every year Europe bucks global deforestation trend.
Halting deforestation is essential to avoiding the worst effects of global climate change. Lagan admits the mere mention of the word logging brings a negative connotation. The initiative, which culminated in an informal meeting of environment ministers in the uk in February while not supporting a convention, endorsed the need to continue an international dialogue on forestry issues and suggested the creation of an intergovernmental panel on forests.
Simultaneously, the Canadians - staunch supporters of the convention - persuaded the Malaysians to temper their opposition by setting up a bilateral initiative. The Malaysians, miffed that India had joined ranks with the uk, decided to go along. The efforts of the industrialised countries to divide developing countries had, thus, succeeded. Intergovernmental Panel on Forests The third csd met in New York in the midst of this high profile activity on forests. But there was still no overwhelming support for a forest convention.
Therefore, the intersessional working group which met prior to the csd , recommended the creation of an ad hoc open-ended intergovernmental panel on forests ipf , under the csd. The panel was established with five inter-related clusters of issues which were to be addressed over a two-year period, the final report to be submitted to the csd at its fifth session in Developing countries, who did not want the forest convention, saw the panel as a way of postponing the decision.
Their effort was to add items to the agenda to deflect interest away from the convention. However, countries in favour of the convention saw the panel as a medium to the convention.
Their effort was to secure discussion on the need for a convention through a separate agenda item - number 5 -on the workplan of the panel. See box: Mortgaged woods The panel began its deliberations in September in New York with mixed and conflicting objectives.
The convention: to be or not to be The one agenda item on which there was no agreement was the need for a forest convention. Whereas a number of countries, including bigwigs from g-7 7 like Malaysia, Indonesia, China and the eu and Canada, supported action towards a forest convention, the opposition from the us to the convention, delayed consensus.
Canada and eu, the most vocal proponents specified that negotiations should be finalised by the year But their determination was matched by strong sentiments of the opponents like Brazil. Southern ngo s, urged by the New Delhi based Centre for Science and Environment, signed a statement which denounced the move for a forest convention saying that it was premature, leading to ineffective policies and would formalise the lowest common denominator for sustainable forest management.
This was a radical shift in the position of these groups who till a year ago had demanded a convention as the only way to protect the world's forests. The ipf recommendations to csd, given below consisted of a menu of options. But importantly it was stated that these options "were not necessarily mutually exclusive". Which means the csd could choose a mishmash of all: l To continue intergovernmental policy dialogue on forests within existing fora like csd and existing institutions like Food and Agriculture Organisation and the biodiversity and climate conventions l To establish an ad hoc open ended intergovernmental forum on forests under csd - in other words, give the two year ad hoc panel a long lease of life and confirm the jobs of the staff on the panel.
This panel would either build consensus for a decision on a legally binding convention by and its various elements or consider the need for other arrangements and mechanisms l To begin work on a legally binding instrument on all types of forests with a focused and tight time schedule Ball in the UN Assembly's court The ipf recommendations took up a fair amount of csd 's time. The discussion was at the highest level.
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