Save forests for safe climate

2010 is a very important year for getting strong action by all levels of Government on climate change.  So far, the targets of both Federal Labor and the Coalitions climate policies are inadequate. Public pressure needs to be applied so Australia can make a real, fair and significant contribution to global efforts to secure a safe climate.

Prime Minister Rudd and Climate Minister Penny Wong have recently announced more funds to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the degradation of forests and peatlands in the Indonesian islands of Borneo and Sumatra. Unfortunately, they continue to refuse to put the simple climate solution of protecting and restoring forests into action in our own backyard.

The Wilderness Society (TWS) and the Goldfields Land and Sea Council (GLSC) have signed an important agreement to work together for the protection of WA’s extraordinary Great Western Woodlands (GWW). The partners will develop a co-operative approach along with other land users to safeguard the ecology and cultural values of the region, and to ensure land justice and economic opportunities for the region’s Traditional Owners.

This is a Q & A about the Federal Labor and the Coalition’s climate policies. It includes questions on greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, policies that will protect nature to help secure a safe climate and how you can help us to secure a safe climate.

Global organisations comprising the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), The Nature Conservancy, the United Nations Development Programme, Wildlife Conservation Society, the World Bank and WWF have released a new book that demonstrates how protecting nature helps protect our climate.

9.3 Billion Tonnes Of Carbon In Old Forests Ignored In Climate Policy - The Federal Opposition has missed a golden opportunity to focus on the huge stores of carbon in Australia’s remaining old-growth native forests as part of its plan to reduce greenhouse emissions, the Wilderness Society said today.

Following the release of the Tasmanian Government’s ‘wedges project”, environment groups today expressed dismay at the apparent lack of analysis and acceptance of the actual emissions from forestry activities and the immediate climate benefits that could be achieved by protecting native forests.

Australia have formally announced their support for the Copenhagen Accord, the agreement that was brokered in the final hours of the Copenhagen climate talks in December.

Returning from the bitterly disappointing UN Copenhagen Climate Change conference where world leaders failed and talks collapsed delivering only a weak agreement insufficient to go anywhere near tackling the global threat, the Wilderness Society delivered their initial prognosis on the wash up for forests and ecosystems.

The overall result is particularly disappointing because the Wilderness Society and the alliance we created and work closely with (The Ecosystems Climate Alliance (ECA)) did a magnificent job on a core element of the fight against climate change – protecting and restoring the world’s forests. The good things achieved will have to be fought for again if there is no overarching agreement to implement them.