CARE comments on the climate change negotiations on adaptation and REDD
In the final days of the Cancún climate negotiations, CARE calls on parties not to bargain with the lives of poor people but to put them at the centre of their efforts to tackle climate change.
Many parties are optimistic that a text on REDD (Reducing Emissions of Deforestation and Forest Degradation) will be agreed here in Cancún. “But the critical issue in a REDD mechanism is to have strong safeguards to prevent it from harming the livelihoods and violating the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities”, says Raja Jarrah, International REDD Advisor for CARE.
Significant progress has been made putting together a draft agreement that addresses the need to respect the rights of these peoples and communities. Importantly, the current draft requests countries to incorporate gender considerations in their national plans. This is critical, because men and women have different needs and rights in relation to the forest.
“Nonetheless, the provisions on the compliance with safeguards are not as strong as they should be. And the real test will be how the words unfold into implementation on the ground”, says Jarrah. “But experience to date has not been encouraging. As governments have been preparing themselves for REDD in recent months, the voice of local people, especially women, has been conspicuously absent.”
Deforestation and forest degradation account for around 20 percent of global emissions. Without action on the other 80 percent, runaway climate change will put the survival of forests, and the livelihoods of people who depend on them, in serious jeopardy. As well as carbon stores, forests are also critical for adaptation to climate change, by moderating extreme weather events and serving as a resource for local communities.
So REDD must work hand in hand with other critical parts of a global climate agreement, namely ambitious emissions reductions and significant funding for adaptation. “A REDD deal on its own will not help the poorest people who are most vulnerable to climate change. We also need major emissions cuts from industrialised countries”, states Jarrah.
That is why the other critical component of a climate deal must be adequate attention to adaptation. “Coming into Cancún, negotiators were close to a decision on an adaptation framework”, says Tonya Rawe, Senior Policy Advocate for CARE. “However, while only a few issues are left to resolve, the risk of failure remains.” As part of a Cancún package, CARE calls for ministers to urgently settle their differences in order to catalyze adaptation action. “The adaptation agreement is still in draft form. But a draft does not get feed poor people.” Along with an agreed framework there is urgent need for scaled up adaptation funding. “Without adequate funding, an adaptation framework is just an empty shell”, says Rawe.
A deal on adaptation is urgently needed as poor people are already suffering from the early impacts of climate change. “Developing countries’ future will be jeopardized without adaptation assistance”, says Ruth Mitei, CARE’s Adaptation Advisor in Kenya. “In Kenya, we have more frequent droughts, unpredictable rain and more flooding. If we don’t reach an agreement on adaptation, lives will be destroyed and poverty will perpetuate. The longer developed nations wait to mitigate climate change, the worse it gets.”
Women are especially vulnerable to climate change, but they are also powerful agents of change. They are managers of natural resources and the primary providers of food, water and fuel for their families and communities – tasks made more difficult in the face of climate change. A deal on REDD and adaptation thus needs to include gender considerations.
In Kenya and other countries, CARE assists men and women in local communities to adapt to climate change by working with them to promote more efficient irrigation and cultivation of drought resistant crops. CARE also work with men and women on community forest management to reduce deforestation. A comprehensive climate agreement will ensure that initiatives like this will be possible across the world.
Media contact in Cancun:
Sandra Bulling
Senior Media Officer, CARE Germany-Luxemburg
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(+49) 151 126 27 123 (German mobile)
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