The Most Outrageous REDD Fairy Tale

7 December 2011

The Most Outrageous Redd Fairy Tale Is....
"REDD Will Support Indigenous Peoples"

Durban, South Africa - Global Forest Coalition has published a series of "Grimm REDD Fairy Tales" [1] to assist delegates in distinguishing truth from fiction regarding the controversial program of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation and enhancing forest carbon stocks (REDD+). Challenging the ability of REDD+ and other market mechanisms to address the underlying causes of the climate crisis, Global Forest Coalition charges that REDD+ could well be a collection of modern fairy tales - fabricated stories intended to lure the unwitting into a complex web of deception.

At an event held yesterday at COP17 in Durban, Global Forest Coalition announced that, of all the myths about REDD, the four most outrageous 'fairy tales' are:

1) REDD will reduce poverty and bring economic benefits
2) REDD will benefit local communities and address deforestation
3) The $30 billion REDD funding that never came
4) REDD will support Indigenous Peoples

"Every one of these assertions is unfounded and outrageous, given experiences on the ground," said Simone Lovera, Director of Global Forest Coalition. "But unlike the UNFCCC, we have decided to submit our concerns to a transparent, democratic vote. "

The most outrageous of these fairy tales is promised the coveted Muddled Moose Award.

When delegates' votes were counted, the winner was announced: the most outrageous REDD fairy tale, and winner of the Muddled Moose, is the myth that 'REDD will support indigenous Peoples'!

This popular mandate is supported by a recent statement fromthe Indigenous Peoples' Biocultural Climate Change Assessment Initiative (IPCCA) [2]. The vote was also supported by the formation of the Global Alliance of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities against REDD and for Life, which yesterday called for a moratorium on REDD+ [3] until numerous concerns are fully addressed and resolved.

Berenice Sanchez, a founder of the Global Alliance, said, "The supposed safeguards in REDD+-type projects are voluntary, weak and hidden. These projects are already violating Indigenous Peoples' rights throughout the world. We demand an immediate moratorium to stop REDD+"

As REDD continues to move forward through both global and subnational initiatives, resistance to the policy continues to grow.

Kate Dooley of FERN in Brussels said that "momentum is building for the creation of a new forest carbon market for REDD, despite widespread opposition and the collapse of carbon prices in Europe. As well as undermining the rights of forest peoples, carbon markets offer no hope to deliver finance for forest protection."

Wally Menne of Timberwatch South Africa said, "Despite the pathetic performance of UNFCCC sanctioned 'climate solutions', the system continues to churn out proposals for all kinds of cock-eyed schemes that carefully circumvent actually reducing the emission of greenhouse gases from fossil-fuel powered industrial activities. The best known of these crazy schemes is REDD+, which is more of a REDD 'herring', distracting global attention from the major sources of emissions, and placing the responsibility for emission reduction projects onto forest communities and Indigenous Peoples in developing countries."

ENDS

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