Breathing Space for the Lungs of the Planet? Brazil takes the lead once again.

Los Angeles was the setting from September 30th to October 3rd for California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Global Climate Summit, which was convened to focus on sub-national initiatives on climate change in the run up to Copenhagen, and which drew governors from around the world.

This summit turned out to be far more than a talking-shop; indeed, there was a remarkable development which, if enacted, would be the single most effective weapon in the battle against the process of climate change which is threatening our planet.

Governor Arnobio Marques de Almeida of the Amazonian state of Acre and State of the World Forum proposed an initiative in support of reducing deforestation in the Amazon by 80% by 2020 and announced their intention of staging an Amazonian Climate Summit in Rio Branco in the Brazilian state of Acre in May 2010.

Six governors were present from Brazil, including five from the Amazon. During their presentations, the Amazonian governors committed to reducing deforestation by 80% by 2020 and appealed to the international community to assist them in attaining this goal. President Lula made a similar commitment at the 2009 UN General Assembly the week before.

A few facts and figures

This is a remarkable commitment because saving the world’s rainforests is the most effective short term way to reduce global warming. As the “lungs of the planet,” the Amazon is by far the largest rainforest:

  • It contains fully 25% of the earth’s biodiversity
  • It contains 20% of all the earth’s fresh water
  • It constitutes the largest carbon sink in the world.

Essentially eliminating deforestation in that region would both address the most crucial challenge in the fight against climate change and would provide a compelling model for other regions to follow.

Brazil takes the lead

This commitment positions Brazil far in the lead in terms of national commitments around reductions of carbon emissions by 2020, a key threshold in the global fight against global warming. Since deforestation amounts to roughly 70% of Brazil’s carbon emissions, a reduction of 80% of Brazil’s deforestation means that Brazil would be reducing carbon emissions by about 60% by 2020, substantially ahead of any other nation in the world.

In discussions with the Amazonian governors, State of the World Forum suggested that they capitalize on this commitment by convening an Amazonian Climate Summit, to carry forward not only the initiatives begun by Governor Schwarzenegger in his two Climate Summits in 2008 and 2009, but also to focus on the rainforests, particularly the Amazon, as a key area of challenge.

Amazonian Climate Summit, May 2010

Governor Almeida of Acre offered to serve as the host of such a Climate Summit in May, 2010 and to invite representatives of all nine nations that together encompass the Amazonian rainforest: Bolivia, Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Surinam, and Venezuela, as well as the governors and other dignitaries who have attended the two Schwarzenegger Summits.

Acre is optimally placed to serve as a host. It borders Bolivia and Peru and has the most advanced laws and practices governing sustainable development of the Amazon of any state in Brazil due to the pioneering work of Chico Mendes in the 1990s, in which Almeida participated and has now transformed into state policy as governor. It is also the case that Governor Almeida is the only Amazonian governor not facing re-election in 2010 so he has the standing and the capacity to lead this effort.

State of the World Forum is working with Governor Almeida and the other governors to coordinate, design, and produce the Amazonian Climate Summit. Randy Hayes, founder of the Rainforest Action Network and one of the most seasoned and respected specialists in the field, will serve as initial project director.

Such a Summit would provide the opportunity for rainforest related NGOs and companies to come together with the assembled governors and other dignitaries in an unprecedented way to exchange information, align around common strategies, and implement initiatives to enable the actual reduction of deforestation by 80% by 2020.

2020 Climate Leadership Campaign

State of the World Forum’s 2020 Climate Leadership Campaign has been working in Brazil to generate support for exactly what the Amazonian governors have committed themselves to – reducing carbon emissions by 80% by 2020.

With Lester Brown and a growing group of scientists and policy analysts worldwide, the State of the World Forum believes that only this level of commitment will avert the worst consequences of climate change; it is only by reducing carbon emissions 80% by 2020 that global temperatures will be kept from rising over 1C and carbon concentrations from rising over 450 ppm. A rise of 1.2C causes Greenland to go into irreversible ice melt, for example, which would raise ocean levels by at least 5 meters. It follows that the goal of reducing carbon emissions by 80% by 2020 is neither an idealistic nor an academic commitment. It is necessary to save human civilization as we know it.

Media support

The 2020 Climate Leadership Campaign is supported by Globo, which controls 80% of the Brazilian media market. Globo is the first major media company in the world to take global warming seriously enough to broadcast national ads educating the public about global warming and calling for decisive action on a crisis that is escalating with each passing day. They will bring an extraordinary amount of publicity to the Amazonian Summit.

Rapid Response Climate Leadership Teams

At the heart of the 2020 Climate Leadership Campaign is the deployment of Rapid Response Teams. These Teams work with local leaders to develop carbon footprint assessments, design strategies to reduce carbon emissions while promoting savings, jobs and opportunities; participate in implementation plans to ensure that the goals are achieved; and synergize their efforts with counterparts nationally and internationally. These Teams would be focused on assisting the local leadership in the Amazonian states in their efforts to reduce deforestation by 80% by 2020.

State of the World Forum believe that there is a unique and extraordinary opportunity here to carry forward Schwarzenegger’s powerful Global Climate Summit by focusing on Brazil, which is demonstrating the level of climate leadership the whole world needs to emulate; emphasizing the Amazon as the front line of this kind of commitment; mobilizing resources to support Rapid Response Teams to enable these commitments to take shape; and doing so in a way that is replicable and scalable worldwide.

Oxford Leadership Academy are fully aligned with State of the World Forum’s Climate Leadership Campaign, support their series of 2020 initiatives, and urge their friends to consider how they might best contribute to the reduction of personal, local and global carbon footprints.

For further information, contact Jim Garrison, President, State of the World Forum, at jgarrison@worldforum.org or Randy Hayes, Project Director, at randy.hayes@worldfuturecouncil.org