Keynote Speech

by SECRETARY HEHERSON T. ALVAREZ

Distinguished Vice-Minister Hua Duch Nhi of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Andrew Speedy of FAO, Dr Yam Malla of RECOFTC, Dr Patrick Durst of FAO, and distinguished guests, participants, ladies and gentlemen, Good Morning.

First of all, I would like to congratulate the organizers of this landmark event: The Center for People and Forests, the Forest Sector Support Partnership under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, for bringing together key decision-makers and stakeholders from 12 Asia-Pacific nations to the First Regional Forum for People and Forests.

I also acknowledge distinguished guests, Vice-Minister Hua Duc Nhi of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; Mr. Andrew Speedy of FAO Vietnam; and Dr. Yam Malla, Executive Director of RECOFTC - the Center for People and Forests.

On behalf of the Philippine Government, it is my pleasure to give the keynote address to this very important gathering.

This forum is a timely event on the road to Copenhagen as we hope to forge an ambitious and comprehensive legal outcome to be agreed upon at the United Nation's Climate Change Conference this December 2009.

An agreed outcome at Copenhagen is of critical importance to Asia and the Pacific, for as we all should know, the impacts of climate change will be overwhelmingly severe in the Region.

Climate change is already adversely impacting on many of the world's peoples. (What I call) “Creeping climate change” is already making itself felt in our lives and in our economies.

Vulnerable countries in Asia and the Pacific, like the Philippines and Vietnam, are already having to endure the worsening impacts of creeping climate change such as severe and more devastating typhoons, floods, massive landslides and rising sea levels, among others—all of which are only expected to get worse if efforts to avoid the tipping point of a 2ºC increase in global temperatures are not made for the very near future.

The destructive impacts of global warming and climate change in the Asia-Pacific region will extremely exacerbate existing vulnerabilities and will have the potential to throw us back into the poverty trap. And we cannot afford this to happen as our region is already home to more than half of the world’s poor.

Indeed, climate change will have catastrophic effects if the world does not take immediate and sufficient action to curb the industrial emissions and the forest loss that have been clearly identified as the major drivers of climate change.

It is important to remember that, like many countries in our region, The Philippines produces only one-third of one percent of the global Green House Gases, much lower in per capita income than those of industrialized nations; hence we are not climate makers—(pause)—instead, we are climate takers! And this is, and should be, our very special reason for being involved in combating climate change. We suffer as much or even more as climate takers, and it has to be emphasized that we have much to lose as a region.

To address the challenges imposed on the region by climate change and global warming, a final deal at Copenhagen should be capable of leading the world’s nations towards a strong and comprehensive system of effectively mitigating and moderating the impacts of “creeping climate change”.

In line with this, the Philippine delegation to the UNFCCC has proposed for deep and early cuts in global GHG emissions of more than 30% from 2013 to 2017, more than 50% from 2018 to 2022, and at least 95% percent by 2050, all from 1990 levels.

The current proposal on the table falls far short of what the science suggests is needed to avert the most dangerous impacts of climate change.

We must seek to define our common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities in terms of combating climate change.

The American Clean Energy Security Act only talks about reducing emissions by 4% below 1990 levels by 2020 when the latest science from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change demands emissions to be cut by at least 40% below 1990 levels by 2020 from developed countries. Similarly, the European Union announced its GHG reduction target of 20% below 2005 levels by 2020.

However, stabilization of global temperatures requires not only the participation of developed countries but also of developing countries.

Developing countries in the Region can move towards a low carbon economy, through initiatives in the areas of renewable energy and energy efficiency. I am proud to state that the Philippines has started to move towards this direction by establishing a Carbon-Cutting Coalition. Carbon-cutting should be the concern not only of industrialized nations who register the highest carbon footprints but even of the developing countries with less carbon emissions.

Also, we as a conglomerate of mostly developing countries stand to contribute practical and cost-effective measures to slow global warming through reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation.

Which brings me to the reason why we are gathered here today.

The critical role of deforestation and forest degradation in contributing to some 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and inducing adverse climate change impacts ultimately affecting the survival of our forest communities and our reliance on our forests ecosystems cannot be understated.

The world’s forests, and especially old-growth forests like those found in our region, play a vital role in fighting global warming and climate change. Incidentally, and aptly, the tropical forests of the Asia-Pacific region are acknowledged and valued as the carbon sinks of the world—rightly so as our forests are capable of absorbing more carbon dioxide in the form of biomass than any other region.

Hence it should be recognized that the forests of the Asia-Pacific serve as the “Lungs of the Earth”—our region comprising some 15% of the world’s forest cover and containing specifically 25% of the carbon in the terrestrial biosphere. That’s a lot of carbon displaced from our atmosphere!

Beyond such considerations, we also recognize that forests and their inherent biodiversity are instrumental for the survival of mankind. In the Asia Pacific region, around 20% of our poor rely on forests resources for their very survival.

However, our forests are constantly under threat with some 1.7 million hectares of natural forests lost every year. This rapid deforestation and degradation of tropical forests in turn add up to the total amount of global carbon dioxide emissions.

This also threatens millions of already vulnerable rural livelihoods, often undermining local community rights and access to forest resources.

Deforestation, as we know, is often attributed to large-scale agriculture. In Southeast Asia alone, subsistence farming, timber exploitation and big scale coffee and palm oil plantations drive the conversion of forests for agriculture. This loss attributed to land conversion makes up 20% of the total greenhouse gas emissions.

The fact that our original forest cover is diminishing endangers our rich biological resources and adds to the threat of air and water pollution.

In light, therefore, of the huge stakes and risks involved with properly managing and preserving our region’s precious forests cover, the tasks that falls on the shoulders of each and everyone of us present at this forum becomes all the more urgent.

Your presence at this invaluable gathering of the 1st Regional Community Forestry Forum with the theme “Carbon Financing and Community Forestry” is testament to our strong and collective resolve in the region to forge a common consensus and arrive at solutions for the pressing problem of global warming and climate change.

Our national and regional efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation (or REDD) could be better achieved with an international mechanism which seeks to catalyze support for efforts focusing on addressing deforestation and degradation. Thus, the importance of the REDD mechanism outlined by the Bali Action Plan now being negotiated in the UNFCCC.

At the forthcoming 15th Conference of the Parties (COP 15) in December of this year, the world will decide and agree upon how a REDD mechanism will look like and what it would include.

REDD is a strong incentive to create partnerships among developed and developing countries seeking to address the problem of deforestation and forest degradation.

However besides, reducing anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, we should also address climate change and rural poverty, and at the same time, conserve biodiversity and sustain ecosystem services, which is REDD-plus.

Reducing deforestation and forest degradation and through afforestation, reforestation and the conservation and enhancement of forest carbon stocks, or REDD-plus is one step in the right direction.

REDD-plus also involves incentives for changing the way forest resources are used. Thus, it offers a new way of curbing CO2 emissions by facilitating payments and compensation for actions that prevent forest loss or degradation.

These transfer mechanisms can include capacity building, technology transfers, carbon trading or payments for afforestation, reforestation and the conservation and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.

As a region that has, for the past decades, been making huge strides in establishing protection mechanisms for our forests not only for the sake of stopping deforestation and degradation but also to conserve and restore our forest ecosystems through the effective participation of local communities, there is no question the Asia-Pacific region should have a lucid voice on the road to Copenhagen when it comes to pushing for a REDD-plus mechanism which credits and supports past and ongoing efforts to conserve and enhance existing forest carbon stocks, as our region has.

In this regard, the Asia-Pacific region, as the “Lungs of the Earth”, cannot afford to be bypassed by the global community as we rightly deserve an equal share of any potential financial and technological support for REDD-plus.

To date, there is no formal mechanism for REDD with international recognition under the Kyoto Protocol, but voluntary REDD projects are starting around the world in a solid effort to influence and anticipate a global REDD mechanism. Despite methodological issues, it is important that as early as now we, as potential REDD-plus countries, push for a set of overarching principles.

The Philippines in the Climate Change Negotiations have been pushing for the following major principles and objectives to govern REDD-plus:

1. Developing Country Parties should contribute to enhanced mitigation actions through REDD-plus actions by reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, ensuring enhancement and conservation of existing carbon stocks, afforestation and deforestation, and conserving carbon reservoirs while promoting good forest governance, sustainable management of forests and prioritizing the restoration of forests;

2. The participation of developing countries should also be voluntary and the implementation should be process driven by developing countries, in accordance with their capabilities and national circumstances.

3. Positive incentives should be diversified and not only limited to market-based but also fund-based approaches, depending on the readiness of the country.

4. Adequate, predictable, socially equitable, and sustainable financial and technical support from the developed countries is a precondition for the successful implementation of REDD-plus in developing countries;

To ensure the full implementation phase of REDD-plus activities, the financial sources of the special REDD-plus fund could, but not limited to, include adequate, predictable, and sustained public funds, and also new and additional to Overseas Development Assistance (ODA).

Also, developed countries should support capacity building, improvement of infrastructure, technology transfer, and exchange of knowledge and experiences of developing countries.

5. REDD should be emphasized as an important component to facilitate sustainable development, reduce poverty, ensure social justice, and adopt to climate change in developing countries; and

6. REDD mechanism should ensure improved forest governance, in which the Indigenous peoples and the local communities are given access to information and participation in environmental decision-making and given opportunities for capacity building.

There should be effective involvement of all relevant groups that is multi-stakeholder and multi-level, the promotion of sustainable forest management, and multiple benefits such as bio-diversity, and respect for indigenous people’s rights.

7. Finally, there is a need for a REDD-plus strategy to consolidate all of these principles and objectives and to anticipate the benefits that we, as a region, can obtain from a potential REDD-plus mechanism.

As I speak, my office is gathering the best and brightest foresters and national and local community leaders to draw up a national REDD-plus strategy whereby we will seek to consolidate and channel all our forest-related efforts towards reducing deforestation and degradation and the conservation of our existing forest carbon stocks. By doing so, we anticipate the benefits we stand to gain from a global REDD-plus mechanism when it hopefully becomes fully operational by 2010.

Having outlined my country’s position on REDD-plus and our efforts to capture prospective carbon financing for our forest communities, I urge this conference of Asia-Pacific leaders to similarly expedite efforts to organize our respective forestry sectors and take leadership in ensuring that a REDD-plus mechanism, from which we can equitably benefit nay contribute as a Region.

To conclude, this conference reminds me and gives me hope for our job of challenging people’s mindset from the present traditional paradigms of economics to the new mindset of conservation, protection and restoration to achieve our vision of sustainable development.

Because, I believe, it is only by calibrating and reconfiguring our policies and actions to be in harmony with the rest of mankind can we move forward as a truly sustainable region.

And that is why it is so important that nations in the Asia and in the Pacific should be here together to make sure such principles are considered and included in Copenhagen and the new global climate change regime.

My fellow leaders and colleagues, let us not only act with the rest of the world, let us take leadership and set an example for sustainable forest stewardship. Most importantly, let us act effectively and let us act now. We’ve come together before to achieve great things, let us now do it again!

Thank you and may this forum succeed in mobilizing our Region to contribute towards mankind’s efforts to combat climate change by protecting our forests in the interest of our nations and the survival of our people in Asia and the Pacific.