An ambitious, non-binding pact signed at the UN Climate Summit seeks to end deforestation by 2030. Experts say it’s a step in the right direction, but it isolates forests from the big-picture landscapes that forests affect—and are affected by. Experts react.

Taken together, two statements on Forests and Agriculture released at the UN Climate Summit provide a compelling action agenda for the world’s landscapes, writes CIFOR Director General Peter Holmgren. The trick, he says, will be combining them for joint solutions.

• ROAD TO LIMA: With Norway deal, Peru can start monitoring deforestation ahead of the COP in Lima, expert urges.
• NY TIMES OP-ED ‘WRONG’: “To save the planet, don’t plant trees”? Article that caused a stir in the world of forestry and climate science was off-base, a CIFOR expert wrote in a blistering reply.
• NOT READY FOR REDD+? Countries devising strategies to curb carbon emissions through avoided deforestation do little to address the root causes of deforestation, a new study finds.

Six global thought leaders presented their big ideas on changing the future of forests and climate research at the Colloquium on Forests and Climate, a special high-level scientific debate hosted by CIFOR, the Earth Institute and Columbia University. Here’s a sampling of what they had to say:

• JOHN HOLDREN: “Expanded access to clean energy has to be at the heart of any international development agenda.”
• CARLOS NOBRE: “Innovation would come from emergence of a new, transformative economic paradigm for the global tropics.”
• CHERYL PALM: “Bioversity is becoming more important than the carbon story.”

Click here to see videos and transcripts of all the presentations at the Colloquium on Forests and Climate.

How do we maximize the overall benefits of land use? In a session held during the CGIAR Development Dialogues, a side event to the UN Climate Summit, CIFOR Director General Peter Holmgren led a discussion of high-level panelists on integrated landscape approaches for agriculture, forestry and other land uses. Watch a video of the session here.

 

ForestsClimateChange.org is CIFOR's online portal for original news, views and research on forests and climate change

 

Imperative to regain momentum in efforts to tackle carbon emissions

Twenty-five years ago, the Montreal Protocol initiated a worldwide ban on ozone-depleting substances. It worked: The Earth’s ozone layer is now recovering. A similarly ambitious plan could curb carbon emissions by enabling carbon storage in forests, write Louis Verchot and Peter Howson, but will require more pushing to overcome technical and financing issues to address humanity’s greatest challenge.

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