UN chief urges forest deal to show climate progress

Yahoo News 9 Dec 10;

CANCUN, Mexico (AFP) – UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday urged an accord on fighting deforestation to help win over a public growing "cynical" as crunch climate change talks entered their final stretch in Mexico.

"The world needs successful examples of climate solutions that produce tangible results," Ban told political and business leaders, saying an agreement on how to fight deforestation -- a top cause of carbon emissions -- was close.

"This is the area where we can have agreement here in Cancun," Ban said, refering to a pact on reducing emissions from deforestation -- known to negotiators as REDD. Such a deal would outline financial incentives for developing countries to save their tropical forests.

"We need to provide hope to a global public growing cynical about small progress in meetings on climate change," said Ban, who has pressed for progress at the conference due to end Friday.

Oil-rich Norway has led pledges from developed nations for REDD which represent some 4.5 billion dollars.

Some negotiators say only public money should go to the plan. But others say it is more realistic to set up a market approach that would allow nations to swap assistance for credits in emission reduction goals

"I'm ready to invest in it and I think private enterprise, particularly on reconstruction, should play a major role," billionaire philanthropist George Soros told the meeting on the sidelines of the conference.

Over the past 15 years, deforestation has accounted for between 12 and 25 percent annually in the global emissions blamed for global warming due to the loss of vegetation that balances off the carbon gas produced by industry.

But negotiators still need to make progress on disputes on deforestation including on methods of financing and verification.

"Under the current draft proposal in Cancun, countries could maintain a healthy forest in one region, while at the same time clearing a forest somewhere else. This needs to be fixed in the final deal," the WWF environmental group said in a statement Wednesday.

Negotiators have also expressed hopes of reaching deals on setting up a global climate fund and verification of countries' climate pledges.