Global forum opens to save forests

Oslo:  A multinational deforestation conference set up an agency yesterday to monitor aid for helping poor nations protect their forests — a major move delegates hope will build momentum for progress at UN climate talks this year in Mexico.

The programme — called REDD Plus, for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation, will encourage rich nations to voluntarily finance forest-protecting projects while coordinating that aid to avoid waste and ensure transparency.

"Forests are worth more dead than alive. Today we commit to change that equation," Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said in opening the Oslo conference, attended by leaders and representatives from 52 countries.

By curbing deforestation, Stoltenberg said, the world can achieve the "largest, fastest and cheapest cuts in global emissions" of greenhouse gases thought to be causing the Earth's average temperatures to rise.

Protecting the forests could account for one third of emissions cuts needed to keep temperatures from rising more than 2C above pre-industrial levels by 2020, which scientists say could trigger a climate catastrophe.