REDD + Gala Brings Together Broad Cross Section of REDD Supporters

Copenhagen, 16 December - Deforestation is responsible for around 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions. That's more than all the world's cars and trucks combined. Rainforests do a great deal to aid the environment, absorbing carbon, purifying water and playing home to species diversity. They do it essentially for free. The poorest nations are the ones whose forests have most impact, yet developing countries cannot receive credit for them under the current UN Climate Change Agreement - Kyoto Protocol.

The market drives deforestation, and criminalizing deforestation hasn't worked to reduce destruction. Today, there's too much opportunity in deforestation for impoverished populations, and as a result forests are worth more dead than alive.

Markets need to drive rewards for reducing deforestation, but they don't. Forests and the eco-system services they provide should have a market value, but they don't.

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) will right this balance. REDD is a program that proposes mobilizing capital within a UN Climate Change framework to help developing countries move towards a market-based solution - where forest nations can eventually trade credits from hectares of avoided deforestation on the world's carbon markets and give developing nations a leadership role in mitigating climate change.

"Friends of REDD" aims to bring together a broad cross section of supporters of REDD from all walks of life and corners of the earth who all share the same wish: To see the successful inclusion of REDD in the next global climate treaty.

Organized by the Coalition of Rainforest Nations, led by Kevin Conrad, Special UN Envoy on Climate Change for Papua New Guinea, "Friends of REDD" will comprise two VIP evening events on December 16 and a public facing visual campaign from December 17 - 18.

Coalition of Rainforest Nations (CfRN) is an intergovernmental policy group that is developing economic incentives to support environmentally sustainable economic growth, including the sustainable management of forests. CfRN is working within the United Nations system to ensure that future climate change agreements provide positive incentives to developing countries that voluntarily reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) and promote the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and the enhancement of forest carbon stocks.

REDD+ Cocktail Reception:
Location: European Environment Agency
Kongens Nytorv 6, Copenhagen
The REDD+ cocktail reception will gather 100 of the most distinguished REDD supporters from around the world at the European Environment Agency (EEA) headquarters. This intimate, VIP gathering will allow heads of state, environment policymakers, CEOs, celebrities and artists to share their enthusiasm for REDD and its inclusion in the new climate protocol in a low-pressure, social environment.

Speakers at the event will include a wide variety of REDD spokespeople, including: Jacqueline McGlade, executive director of the EEA; Arnold Schwarzenegger, governor of California; Maya Lin, renowned artist; Vivienne Westwood, fashion designer; Tulsi Tanti, chairman and managing director of Suzlon; and Michael Somare, prime minister of Papua New Guinea.

Additional guests will include such personalities as: Peter Seligman, CEO of Conservation International Foundation; Mark Tercek, CEO of the Nature Conservancy; and Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

At the close of the event, Maya Lin will exclusively preview her projected artwork "Save Two Birds with One Tree." Then, the speakers and guests will move across the road to the Royal Theater for the larger Friends of REDD celebration.
Isabelle Pierrard
Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson

Da United Nations Environment Programme