BRUSSELS, 30 April 2012: “The story of REDD” was launched during the weekend at the annual meeting of the Forest Movement Europe in Portugal. Developed by a coalition of seven European NGOs working on forest peoples’ rights, the animation shows that reducing deforestation will require an end to unsustainable consumption of meat, fuel, food and wood fibre, and the strengthening of forest communities’ rights to the land they live on.
REDD, or reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, is one of the most controversial issues in the climate change debate. The basic concept is simple: governments, companies or forest owners in the South should be rewarded for keeping their forests instead of cutting them down. The devil, as always, is in the details.
‘The story of REDD: A real solution to deforestation?’ considers the more complex issues that must be considered by any initiative to reduce deforestation. The attached script includes links to reports, websites and briefings that explain the issues in more detail or outline where facts and figures come from. It is intended not to be comprehensive, but to give a flavour of the research and a starting point for finding out more information about these issues.
