I can't believe that just one year ago Rio+20 was over. The 2 years proceeding it had been a whirl of preparations, negotiations, meeting new people and trying to build capacity. It has been tough to keep caring, keep engaged and not give up. Frequently we went without sleep, skipped family mile stones, missed out on real life stuff and we were so lucky at times not to get fired from our day jobs.
Today is one year since that. One year ago we read our final statement. I can still remember the final minutes as I left Rio centro to the background of colleagues (children and youth) frantically trying to squeeze the last few minutes of media attention. I remember feeling slightly detached. Yes, we had achieved a lot but the real battle had not even happened yet. The real battle was trying to get anything implemented.
A week ago, I did a google hangout on the anniversary of Rio+20. It focused on the successes since Rio+20. But what has been achieved? The youth / child movement has gotten weaker and more fragmented. Post 2015 coalition children and youth working group (led by a ngo that is not child or youth led) actually charge its members over 1000 euro to join and constantly tries to undermine the Major Group of Children and Youth. Some member states are trying to actually get rid of the Major Group structure which would live women, children and indigenous peoples most vulnerable. But no one wants to hear the negatives.
This googlehangout focused on how to engage more young people. Let me know what you think?
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Friday, June 7, 2013
Huh? REDD+ what?
"REDD plus what?" A familiar question now that I have started working on this project and preparing to facilitate knowledge sharing from Guyana.
Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) is a set of steps designed to use market and financial incentives in order to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases from deforestation and forest degradation. Its objective is to reduce greenhouse gases.
I found this interesting intro video which is a start:
To make things easier...I will be focused on the Guiana shield and specifically Guyana.
The Guiana Shield region contains the largest complex of uninterrupted and intact primary tropical rainforest on earth. It is vital in the global battle against climate change due to its huge storage of carbon dioxide and capacity to absorb CO2. The region contains 10-15% of the world’s fresh water reserves and an extremely rich diversity of plants and animals, most of which are unique to this region.
However, despite the wealth of natural resources in the region, the poverty level remains high. High levels of external debt and weak institutional capacity exert an increasing pressure on governments and local populations to choose economic activities which are beneficial on the short term, but that are often unsustainable, damaging the unique character of the eco-region.
This has led to a lack of land use planning, as well as the production of illicit drugs, illegal mining and logging, ill-planned infrastructure projects, and expansion of the agricultural frontier. All of which are putting an increasing pressure on the ecosystems of this unique eco-region.
Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) is a set of steps designed to use market and financial incentives in order to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases from deforestation and forest degradation. Its objective is to reduce greenhouse gases.
I found this interesting intro video which is a start:
To make things easier...I will be focused on the Guiana shield and specifically Guyana.
The Guiana Shield region contains the largest complex of uninterrupted and intact primary tropical rainforest on earth. It is vital in the global battle against climate change due to its huge storage of carbon dioxide and capacity to absorb CO2. The region contains 10-15% of the world’s fresh water reserves and an extremely rich diversity of plants and animals, most of which are unique to this region.
However, despite the wealth of natural resources in the region, the poverty level remains high. High levels of external debt and weak institutional capacity exert an increasing pressure on governments and local populations to choose economic activities which are beneficial on the short term, but that are often unsustainable, damaging the unique character of the eco-region.
This has led to a lack of land use planning, as well as the production of illicit drugs, illegal mining and logging, ill-planned infrastructure projects, and expansion of the agricultural frontier. All of which are putting an increasing pressure on the ecosystems of this unique eco-region.
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