28 May 2008 -
Bonn, International — Today, at the UN Conference
on Biological Diversity, being held in Bonn,
the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, pledged
500 million Euros over the next four years
to help protect the world's forests. She
also announced that from 2013 it will increase
to 500 million Euros every year.
To remind Chancellor Merkel of the need
for urgent action to protect what is left
of the world's rainforests, early this morning
Greenpeace activists set light to a five
metre high tree stump, the remainder of
a tree felled in the Amazon, on the River
Rhine in Bonn. Stationed on a platform in
the middle of the Rhine, near to where the
UN conference is taking place, 50 Greenpeace
activists, in ten inflatables, unfurled
banners reading: "Forests are burning.
Save the climate".
Shortly after, Merkel
arrived to join other government leaders
to attend the Ministerial discussions at
the UN's biodiversity conference in Bonn.
Representatives from 191 countries are trying
to seal a deal that will help to preserve
the world's plants, animals and natural
resources and protect the climate.
Germany's announcement
comes just one week after Greenpeace challenged
G8 countries, including Germany, to provide
more funding for forest protection. We argued
that only by doing this would others believe
that these countries' are serious about
tackling climate change.
Greenpeace wants the
money pledged to lead towards a legally-binding
agreement for a global fund that could be
used to halt deforestation. We launched
our new proposal called 'Forests for Climate'
at a press conference last week in Bonn.
The concept behind the plan is quite simple.
Rich countries, who have historically been
the biggest polluters and contributors to
climate change, would have to pay into the
UN administered fund. The money would then
be used to reward those developing countries
that protect their rainforests. By putting
in place this system of financial incentives,
it is hoped that it will make economic sense
for developing countries, like Brazil and
Indonesia, to stop deforesting their land.
Greenpeace wants the
mechanism to be part of the next phase of
the Kyoto global climate deal to be implemented
when the existing commitment period ends
in 2012.
Of course, we can't
afford to wait another four years for governments
to act on deforestation. Deforestation is
responsible for about a fifth of all global
greenhouse emissions - that's more than
the world's entire transport sector. If
we are to have any hope of tackling climate
change, action to stop the destruction of
rainforests needs to happen right now.
That's why last week
Greenpeace asked the German government,
as hosts of the UN conference, to pledge
2 billion Euros each year until 2012 to
plug the gap. This would mean that financial
incentives for countries to protect their
forests would be available right away.
Norway recently took
the bold step of pledging two billion Euros
over the next five years. While Germany's
announcement today hasn't gone as far as
Greenpeace wanted, the money they have pledged
is certainly a step in the right direction.
Now, we want other G8 members to follow
suit and match or even exceed Germany's
pledge.
Greenpeace estimates
that between 20-27 billion Euros each year
is needed to stop the destruction of the
rainforests, save its animals and plants
and to guarantee the rights of people living
in the forests.
Brazil has already shown
that it is possible to reduce the rate of
deforestation. The country has lost more
rainforest than any other country in the
world. Yet between 2003 and 2006 the rate
of deforestation declined in the Amazon.
This was in part thanks to Greenpeace and
other NGOs working together to help make
sure that authorities could properly enforce
protection measures in the Amazon. Having
said this, in 2007 the rate of deforestation
is on the increase again which only shows
the importance of a sustained effort over
a long period of time if measures to tackle
this problem are to be effective.
+ More
Nutella - Breakfast
for Champions?
Football, Ferrero and Forests
28 May 2008 - Italy,
International — The Italian football team
apparently love nothing better than a nice
dollop of Nutella spread over their bread
for breakfast – “breakfast for champions”
according to Nutella, the official sponsors
for the national team. But what else do
Nutella’s owners, the Italian company Ferrero
– official sponsor of the entire Euro 2008
Championship - support?
Nutella – a hazelnut-based
sweet spread - is immensely popular in Italy,
as well as the rest of Europe and around
the world. Its exact ingredients are, as
you might expect, are a closely guarded
secret, but according to two laboratories
that analysed the spread for Greenpeace,
it is composed of 31% vegetable oils, most
of which is palm oil.
Aside from pushing species,
such as the orang-utan of Borneo, Indonesia,
to the brink of extinction, the destruction
of the world’s rainforests and peatlands
to make way for increased palm-oil plantations
is driving climate change - every time the
rainforest is trashed, huge amounts of greenhouse
gases are released into the atmosphere.
The destruction of rainforests accounts
for a fifth of all greenhouse gas emissions
– that’s more than all the planes, trains
and automobiles in the world.
We sent along the “Borneo
football team” – eleven orang-utans! – to
explain. Arriving at the Italian squad’s
official training centre, the orang-utans
presented the footballers with an alternative
“breakfast for champions” – a chocolate
cream called Deforestazione Zero – and asked
them to support our call for Zero Deforestation!
Greenpeace has been
calling on Ferrero to declare its purchasing
policy on palm oil, to assure us and its
customers that Nutella is not being produced
from palm oil that comes from deforestation.
So far, we’ve had no positive news, which
is why we’re asking the Italian national
team to champion the cause.
Ferrero is a member
of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil
(RSPO), an international association which
has been put in charge of making the palm
oil sector more sustainable. Despite the
fact that the RSPO has existed since 2002,
there is still no certified palm oil on
the market.
Greenpeace has produced
a report, “The Hidden Carbon Liability of
Indonesian Palm Oil”, which highlights the
urgent need for global palm oil consumers
and investors to support our call for an
immediate moratorium on deforestation and
peatland clearance in Indonesia.
One of the major companies
using palm oil in its products is Unilever,
which heads up the RSPO. Using Unilever's
palm oil supply chains as a case study to
help quantify the carbon liability and collateral
risks associated with the Indonesian palm
oil sector, the report shows how, by buying
palm oil from suppliers who account for
more than one-third of Indonesia's palm
oil production, companies - including Ferrero
and other major players such as Nestlé,
Procter & Gamble and Kraft - are increasing
their potential carbon liability and thus
leaving investors exposed to potentially
significant levels of hidden risk, compromising
long-term financial and brand stability.
Following Greenpeace
pressure, Unilever has recognised the global
problems associated with palm oil expansion
and the need for drastic reform to this
sector. Unilever has taken a bold move in
supporting our call for an immediate moratorium
on deforestation and peatland clearance.
While Unilever's position is strengthened
by its status as the largest single palm
oil consumer in the world, companies like
Ferrero need to join with Unilever, support
the moratorium and spread the call for a
halt to deforestation.
