Take Action: Tell President Obama to Save Rainforests and Stop Climate Change

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Tell President Obama to Save Rainforests and Stop Climate Change

Scientists agree that we must reduce greenhouse gas emissions, both from polluting industries and from deforestation, by at least 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 if we are to avoid catastrophic climate change. Most of the world is on board with this ambition, with the unfortunate exception of the United States. U.S. negotiators will be traveling to Copenhagen next week arguing that instead of achieving science-based policy targets, the world must accept what is "politically possible" in the United States.

Meanwhile, a deal on reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) is poised to move ahead with U.S. support, even while the U.S. won't commit to its own emissions reduction. This means that REDD may well become nothing more than an offsets mechanism: instead of making necessary and urgent reductions from big polluters like coal and oil, we would rather buy offsets from rainforest regions.

The only thing that could make this situation more perverse would be if REDD doesn't actually protect rainforests - but with major weaknesses in the current REDD text, this is exactly what could come to pass. You can read more details here on our post on the Understory, and to take action, send the letter below to President Obama and the U.S. Climate Envoy Todd Stern.

Talking Points

Subject:

Dear President Obama,

(Edit Letter Below)

Now more than ever, U.S. leadership on climate change is essential. Yet, the U.S. has insisted on weakening emissions reductions targets throughout the preparatory meetings for Copenhagen. I call on you to push for a strong climate deal in Copenhagen this December, one that secures deep reductions in fossil fuel emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 and to set a firm target of 350 parts per million of CO2 in the atmosphere. In order to succeed, we also need a strong, effective agreement on REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) that explicitly protects tropical rainforests and respects the rights of Indigenous peoples to free, prior and informed consent.

An effective REDD agreement will not subsidize the conversion of intact forests to plantations, and will make sure that benefits from forest protection are distributed equitably. It must address consumption, in the U.S. and other wealthy countries, of products like palm oil that are fueling tropical deforestation. And it must result in greenhouse gas emissions reductions that are in addition to those needed to end our dependence on dirty fossil fuels. A REDD agreement alone will not solve the global problem of climate change - it is essential that the U.S. commit to curbing its own emissions from oil and coal.

This is an unparalleled opportunity to focus global efforts in ways that could save millions of acres of the world's dwindling rainforests and protect our climate at the same time.

The future of our planet is at stake. Now is the time to be bold!

Sincerely,
[Your name]

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President Obama

President Barack Obama
cc: US Special Envoy on Climate Change Todd Stern

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