TL: SINKING THE CLIMATE
SO: Kevin Jardine, Greenpeace Canada (GP)
DT: February 18, 1994
Keywords: energy atmosphere greenpeace canada climate change /

 ECO GENEVA (INC9) #5 - Feb 16 '94     igc:larris
climate.news   Feb 16, 1994
Title: Sinking the Climate
by Kevin Jardine, Greenpeace Canada
The Climate Convention and Biodiversity Convention were the two
major accomplishments of the Earth Summit. It is a terrible
irony, therefore, that natural forests around the world continue
to be destroyed, particularly by developed countries, while the
same countries propose vast monoculture tree plantations in an
attempt to delay or avoid energy reform.

The now-notorious plan to log the old-growth temperate rainforest
of Clayoquot Sound in British Columbia, Canada, is only one
example of the vast logging operations now underway in northern
countries. Over a million hectares are now logged every year in
Canada alone. Companies such as Hyundai and Mitsubishi are
expanding operations into the vast forest of Siberia.

Scientific estimates are that the carbon releases from these
logging operations are immense, but they are rarely acknowledged
by developed countries. For example, despite repeated objections
from NGOs, Canada's National Report lists deforestation emissions
for developing countries but ignores the emissions related to
Canadian logging.

The same countries responsible for the liquidation of the
northern forests are lobbying for the creation of vast
monoculture tree plantations, particularly in developing
countries. There are numerous problems with this proposal:

Plantations are not a reliable way to sequester carbon. Carbon
sequestration effectively converts multi-million year-old
hydrocarbon reserves deep in the Earth into fragile organic
material on the Earth's surface.

This fragility will increase if the Earth's climate continues to
change. Tree plantations are more vulnerable to climate-induced
disturbances than natural forests. The lack of species diversity
renders plantations vulnerable to insect attacks. More evenly
distributed tree plantations lack the natural fire breaks of
forests. Since many tree plantations are planted from seedlings
rather than seeds, they may lack the elaborate and deep root
structures of natural forests and may be more subject to blowdown
during storms.

Plantations are a distraction from energy and forest management
reforms in developed countries. Tree plantations are often said
to be a 'transitional' measure to 'buy time'.

Diverting funds into carbon sequestration programs inevitably
reduces the funds available for energy efficiency and renewable
energy. The more gas-guzzling cars, carbon-spewing power plants,
leaky buildings and energy-hogging appliances and industrial
processes, the more difficult it will be to cut emissions to
sustainable levels. This is especially the case for large scale
capital expenditures like buildings and power plants that will be
kept operating for many decades and are not easily retrofitted.

It is gross hypocrisy for developed countries to promote tree
plantations in developing countries while destroying their own
forests. Many developing countries suspect that developed
countries intend to use their overwhelming political and economic
power to impose carbon sequestration programs on poorer countries
and so avoid making the more difficult energy and forest
management reforms at home. This suspicion is not without
foundation.