Climate Action 2011-2012

edd+
climate policy, governance & finance
Engaging the market to
reduce land-based emissions
By Toby Janson-Smith, Senior Director, Climate
and Land Use: Markets and Policy, Conservation
International (CI)
We cannot solve the climate crisis without changing
the way forests and other lands are valued and used
around the world, and the private sector must play a
critical role in driving this transformation. The key
lies in shifting to a new sustainable development
paradigm that fundamentally values and conserves the
natural capital and ecosystems upon which human
well-being depends – a true green economic model.
The author describes some promising initiatives and
new market responses.
Quantifying nature’s value
Tropical forests continue to be cleared at the alarming rate of
14 million hectares annually, contributing about 16 per cent
of global greenhouse gas emissions – more than the entire
transport sector. Effectively tackling this problem would
pay huge dividends. In fact, protecting and restoring these
forests, along with the sustainable management of forest and
agricultural lands, could contribute more than a third of the
emission reductions needed through 2020. But there is a
long way to go!
To help close the gap, and armed with its mission to
conserve nature’s assets for the well-being of humanity, CI
is working with governments, the private sector and other
partners to establish effective, scalable market mechanisms
and demonstration models for conserving the ecosystems
that underpin healthy, sustainable economies.
The economic value of ecosystems and the services they
provide (including climate regulation, water conservation,
soil production and pollination) is staggering – some
estimates put it somewhere between the entire US and global
GDP. Government and industry leaders are increasingly
recognising that new development and business paradigms
must be created and supported if the natural capital that
provides these valuable services is to be maintained.
reducing emissions through
sustainable supply chains
Tropical deforestation is being driven by the resource needs
of a growing global population. Addressing such threats will
not be easy with two billion more people being added to the
middle class over the next 40 years – along with a doubling
in demand for food, water and energy. Isolated solutions
that ignore the connections between these human needs and
land-use change are unlikely to be successful at scale and
over the long term.
Fortunately, corporate leaders are realising that the
sustainability of their supply chains, not to mention the
economies upon which their businesses depend, can best be
supported by considering the broader impacts and benefits
of sustainable land management that conserves and restores
natural capital instead of depleting it.
The economic value of
ecosystems and the services
they provide is staggering.
A growing number of companies are insisting that the
key commodities they buy – such as palm oil, soy, beef and
timber – are produced sustainably and without associated
forest loss. For example, Walmart is requiring that by 2015
all palm oil in its branded products be sustainably sourced.
For their US and UK products alone, this move should cut
five million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions over the next
few years. Furthermore, recognising that about 60 per cent
of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon is related to cattle
ranching expansion, Walmart will make sure that any beef it
buys does not contribute to such land-use change.
Industry groups are also coming together to tackle these
issues. At the UN climate conference in Cancun last year,
the Consumer Goods Forum – a CEO-led organisation of
hundreds of the largest consumer goods manufacturers and
retailers – committed to mobilising its collective resources
to help achieve zero net deforestation by 2020. At CI we’re
working with these industry leaders to put their commitments
© CI/John Buchanan
Forest clearing for palm oil plantations in
Indonesia is a major source of global emissions.
51 climateactionprogramme.org