News archive

• European Position on Carbon Markets Undermines UN Climate Convention (Wed 10 Mar 2010)
  
  
  Amsterdam, 10 March 2010 - The proposals from the European Commission on post-Copenhagen climate policy that will be released today [1] will undermine the UN negotiations on climate change, warns a group of forest campaigners. The Global Forest Coalition [2] says the report paves ...
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• GFC supports Haiti initiative of La Via Campesina (Fri 22 Jan 2010)
  
  
  Solidarity with the people of Haiti Dear colleagues and friends, Through this letter, we communicate our deepest sympathy and solidarity
  with the Haitian people who are now dealing with the aftermath of a
  devastating earthquake that caused thousands ...
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• New Copenhagen Draft Proposals Subsidize Forest Destruction and Land Grabs (Thu 14 Jan 2010)
  
  
  Copenhagen, 17th December - The new draft proposals released yesterday at the Copenhagen Climate Conference will lead to large-scale destruction of ecosystems and unprecedented land grabs as spurious `offsets' will allow Northern countries to burn even more fossil fuels say civil society ...
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• Press Conference on REDD Negotiations Massacre (Wed 16 Dec 2009)
  
  
  Asger Jorn
  Tuesday 14 December, 18:30 – 19:00 PM
  
  Organised by Focus on the Global South, Climate Justice Now!, Global Justice Ecology Project and the Global Forest Coalition.
  
  What was supposed to be the last negotiation round to prepare an agreement on Reducing ...
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• Overview of Global Forest Coalition and other forest-related (KF) events at the Climate Summit in Copenhagen (Thu 3 Dec 2009)
  
  
  This overview includes a number of non-forest related events by GFC members and allies. It does not include all forest-related side events at the Bella centre. All events are at the Klimaforum unless otherwise mentioned. Please check the latest version of the program for definitive times ...
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• New Climate Deal Risks Impoverishing Indigenous Peoples (Fri 9 Oct 2009)
  
  
  Bangkok, 8 October 2009 – If parties agree on a new climate change deal in Copenhagen in December, indigenous people might be the main victim of it. Environmental and human rights groups call on policymakers to explicitly recognize indigenous peoples’ rights when designing a ...
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• Countdown for Survival: Global groups make an urgent call to end deforestation and conserve the world's forests during UN Climate Talks (Mon 15 Jun 2009)
  
  
  Bonn, Germany - A coalition of youth, environmental groups, NGOs, Indigenous Peoples organizations and women's groups delivered a plea to negotiators asking them to ensure a strong climate deal and warning them that they will put our survival at risk if they do not act immediately to halt deforestation ...
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• Belgium Permanent Mission Protested by Attendees of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York (Tue 26 May 2009)
  
  
  Protesters Insist Genetically Engineered Poplar Trees Planted by Belgium be Removed
  
  On International Biodiversity Day, Indigenous Peoples Organizations along with several Non-Governmental Organizations held a protest against genetically engineered trees in front ...
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• Field Trial of Dangerous Genetically Engineered Trees Begins in Belgium (Tue 12 May 2009)
  
  
  GE Poplars Risk Contaminating European Forests with Climate-Destructive Traits Amsterdam, The Netherlands- -Organizations internationally are condemning the planting of a highly controversial field trial of GE poplar trees on 6 May by The Flanders Institute for ...
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• Forest Campaigners Reject Prince Charles' Rainforest Speculation Plans (Wed 1 Apr 2009)
  
  
  The Global Forest Coalition, a worldwide network of environmental organizations and Indigenous Peoples Organizations, have publicly rejected the plans of the Prince of Wales to finance rainforest protection with a system of 15-year bonds that are to be paid back with funding derived from carbon ...
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• World Forests Rapidly Disappearing - Biofuels is Major Driver (Tue 17 Mar 2009)
  
  
  ROME, ITALY -- In a reaction to the alarming data released today in the 2009 State of the World’s Forests report by the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), Friends of the Earth International [1] and the Global Forest Coalition [2] two leading networks of environmental and Indigenous ...
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• Climate Justice Assembly Declaration (Wed 11 Feb 2009)
  
  
  Bélém, Brazil: Call for an International Day of Action on 12 October 2009.
  
  No to neoliberal illusions, yes to people's solutions!
  
  For centuries, productivism and industrial capitalism have been destroying
  our cultures, exploiting our ...
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• Forest Groups Caution Poznan Outcomes will Cause Havoc to Forests and Indigenous Peoples (Sat 13 Dec 2008)
  
  
  Poznan, Poland--The Global Forest Coalition, a worldwide coalition of NGOs and Indigenous Peoples' Organizations, expressed strong concerns about the outcomes of the Poznan UN Climate Talks today.
  
  The 14th Conference of the Parties of the Framework Convention on ...
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• Indigenous Peoples, Local Communities and NGOs Outraged at the Removal of Rights from UNFCCC Decision on REDD (Thu 11 Dec 2008)
  
  
  Protest Manifests as Indigenous Rights are opposed by U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand at UN Climate Conference.
  
  
  
  
  ...
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• Agrofuel Production Threatens the Life of last remaining Indigenous Peoples Living in Voluntary Isolation South from the Amazonian Basin (Thu 11 Dec 2008)
  
  
  Paraguay--On both November 26 and 28 in the South of Amotocodie,
  anthropology and ecology experts of the Union of Native Ayoreo of Paraguay
  and the <http://www.iniciati va-amotocodie. org>NGO Amotocodie Initiative
  with help from Ayoreo people from the village of Ijnapui ...
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• Groups unite to challenge the definition of forests under UNFCCC/REDD (Thu 11 Dec 2008)
  
  
  Poznan, Poland (UN Climate Conference)- -Global Forest Coalition, The Wilderness Society, World Rainforest Movement, Global Justice Ecology Project, Via Campesina, the International Youth Delegation and the STOP GE Trees Campaign united today to challenge the UN/REDD definition of forests....
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• UN Climate Deal Could Pay for Forest DestructionCarbon Karma Fortune-telling Action Foretells REDD Profit (Mon 8 Dec 2008)
  
  
  Poznan, Poland--Global Forest Coalition, The Wilderness Society, Global Justice Ecology Project and concerned youth highlighted the risks associated with the implementation of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) in a "REDD fortune-telling" action ...
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• Climate Activists Invade DC Offices of Environmental Defense, Daughter of ED Founder Accuses Group of Pushing False Solutions to Climate Change (Thu 4 Dec 2008)
  
  
  Washington, DC-As the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change opened today in Poznan, Poland, grassroots climate activists took over the Washington DC office of Environmental Defense. The activists stated that they had targeted ED, one of the largest environmental organizations in the world, ...
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• Forest Groups Welcome European Commission's Rejection of Forest Carbon Credits in ETS (Sun 19 Oct 2008)
  
  
  The Global Forest Coalition, a worldwide coalition of NGOs and Indigenous Peoples' Organisations, welcomes the recommendation of the European Commission to exclude forest carbon credits from the EU emissions trading scheme (ETS) until at least after 2020. The Commission points out that ...
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• As the international financial and food crisis worsens, Global Forest Coalition critiques the unreliability of Market-based Conservation Mechanisms with launch of new report (Mon 13 Oct 2008)
  
  
  Barcelona, Spain, 9 October 2008--As the international financial crisis grows and markets become more unstable, Global Forest Coalition [1] launched a timely new report, ...
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• Groups call for Action on 21 September: International Day Against Monoculture Tree Plantations (Fri 19 Sep 2008)
  
  
  Large-scale monoculture tree plantations cause serious environmental, social and economic impacts on local communities.  These impacts have been amply documented around the world, and include the depletion of water sources due to changes in the hydrological cycle;  deterioration ...
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• Global Gathering of Activists in Copenhagen Calls for Action Against Business As Usual at 2009 UN Climate Conference (Wed 17 Sep 2008)
  
  
  Copenhagen, Denmark--Nearly 100 activists from 21 countries gathered in Copenhagen over the weekend to begin to lay plans for a massive global mobilization against climate change that will focus on the UN Climate Conference scheduled to take place in Copenhagen in 2009.
  ...
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• International Biochar Conference Uses False Claims to Promote Dangerous Technology in the name of Climate Change Mitigation (Mon 8 Sep 2008)
  
  
  Campaigners today warn that an international conference on biochar, which will be held in Newcastle, UK from 8 to 10 September, will be misleading governments and the public with claims that biochar - a by-product of second generation agrofuel production - can curb climate change and improve ...
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• Gallagher's Support of Second Generation Biofuels will Still Compete with Food and will Destroy the World's Forests: Review on Biofuels Criticised (Tue 8 Jul 2008)
  
  
  The Global Forest Coalition, a worldwide coalition of environmental NGOs and Indigenous Peoples' Organizations, welcomes the conclusion by the Renewable Fuels Agency's Gallagher review that the introduction of biofuels should be significantly slowed until adequate controls to address ...
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• A Leap Backwards: Biodiversity Loses at UN Convention on Biodiversity (Fri 27 Jun 2008)
  
  
  Bonn, Germany--Global Forest Coalition [1] is appalled at the lack of political will displayed at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Ninth Conference of the Parties (COP-9) and the direction the CBD is headed.  Although countries in the Africa Group were unified in protecting biodiversity, ...
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• World Environment Day, 5 June 2008: An Ill-fated Day for the Environment: False Solutions to Food Crisis will Escalate Starvation, Accelerate Climate Change and Devastate Biodiversity (Fri 6 Jun 2008)
  
  
  Rome, Italy--The Global Forest Coalition, a worldwide coalition of environmental NGOs and Indigenous Peoples' Organizations, has called World Environment Day 2008 a black day for the environment, now that it appears the FAO Summit on World Food Security will fail to agree on an immediate halt to ...
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• Activists Symbolically Cut Trees to Save Forests and Call for GE Trees Ban (Tue 27 May 2008)
  
  
  Bonn, Germany-A large number of activists today stopped and cut Genetically Engineered frankentrees that attempted to invade a tree planting ceremony outside of the meeting of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
  
  "We came here to this event because ...
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• Governments Prioritize Forest Exploitation. Many Governments Fail to Comply with CBD Mandate. (Tue 20 May 2008)
  
  
  Bonn, Germany--Global Forest Coalition [1] released a major report, "Forests and the Biodiversity Convention," [2] at the Convention on Biological Diversity today.  This report contains the summaries and research undertaken in 22 countries [3] by independent country monitors [4] to examine ...
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• UK Protests call for Biofuel Targets to be Scrapped (Mon 21 Apr 2008)
  
  
  Joint press release by Biofuelwatch and Global Forest Coalition
  
  London-There were demonstrations in London yesterday and groups across the UK also protested against the introduction of mandatory biofuel blending.  Outside Downing Street speakers from Friends of the Earth, Global Forest ...
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• Coalition calls on NGOs to withdraw support to Responsible Soy Roundtable (Fri 18 Apr 2008)
  
  
  Asunción, Paraguay--One week before the third meeting of the Roundtable on Responsible Soy (RTRS) in Buenos Aires, Argentina [1], the Global Forest Coalition, a worldwide coalition of Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Indigenous Peoples Organizations [2], have published an open call ...
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• Groups condemn biofuels as false solution during Brazil's president Lula tour of the Netherlands and Czech Republic (Fri 11 Apr 2008)
  
  
  The Netherlands--Criticism is mounting denouncing Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's visit this week to the Netherlands and the Czech Republic on a tour focused on promoting ethanol and other biofuels. The Brazilian president is visiting The Hague, Rotterdam and Amsterdam and ...
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• NGOs Support: IPO Statement Rome, Italy, 11 – 15 February, 2008 (Fri 22 Feb 2008)
  
  
  The International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity decided to walk out the Working Group on Protected Areas of the Convention on Biodiversity, as they were not able to participate effectively. A number of NGOs is formally supporting their decision. Support from the following:
  1. Global Forest ...
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• Protecting the world’s forests needs more than just money (Mon 4 Feb 2008)
  
  
  
  Governments meeting in Bali, Indonesia for the 13th Conference of the Parties/3rd Meeting of the Parties to the United Nations' Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), 3-14 December 2007, need to recognise that this may be our last opportunity to stop runaway climate change and ...
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• The latest issue of Alter-Eco is now available: http://www.altereconews.org/ (Tue 18 Dec 2007)
  
  
  Alter-Eco is published by a group of non-governmental organizations, indigenous people’s organizations and social movements at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change COP-13. The groups came together to make a unified call in support of real solutions to climate change and against the ...
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• The International Forum of Indigenous Peoples on Climate Change (IFIPCC) (Mon 17 Dec 2007)
  
  
  Thank you Mr. President, on behalf of the International Forum of Indigenous Peoples on Climate Change, I would like to express our profound concern about reducing emissions from deforestation (REDD).
  
  Many adaptation and mitigation policies and projects promoted as solutions to climate change ...
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• Bali Forest Outcomes Trample Indigenous Peoples' & Local Communities' Rights (Mon 17 Dec 2007)
  
  
  Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia-As the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change ends, Global Forest Coalition [1] expresses great concern that market-based mechanisms promoted here do not give enough guarantees to indigenous peoples and forest dependent peoples to ensure their rights.
  
  Global ...
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• What's missing from the climate talks? Justice! (Mon 17 Dec 2007)
  
  
  What's missing from the climate talks? Justice! BALI (INDONESIA), 14 December 2007 - Peoples from social organizations and
  movements from across the globe brought the fight for social, ecological
  and gender justice into the negotiating rooms and onto the streets during...
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• Bali Blog: Dancing with Dollars - Forest Carbon Partnerships explained (Thu 13 Dec 2007)
  
  
  Gemma Taylor writes:
  Is the Bali conference on climate change just another example of the West deciding what’s best for the rest?
  
  With Indigenous Peoples repeatedly describing how their rights are not being upheld, Simone Lovera, managing coordinator of the Global Forest Coalition, ...
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• Indigenous Peoples Protest UNFCCC: Indigenous Peoples shut out of Climate Change negotiations (Fri 7 Dec 2007)
  
  
  Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia- Indigenous peoples representing regions from around the world protested outside the climate negotiations today wearing symbolic gags that read UNFCCC, the acronym of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, symbolizing their systematic exclusion from the ...
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• GFC side event at UNFCCC, Bali (Mon 3 Dec 2007)
  
  
  GFC will organise the side event 'Clashing strategies: promoting agrofuels and reducing deforestation' at the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali on 5 December 2007. About the contradictions between the promotion of large-scale agrofuel production, and the reduction of deforestation in developing ...
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• No time left for false solutions (Sun 2 Dec 2007)
  
  
  Stop commercialising carbon, cut emissions at source!
  
  The Global Forest Coalition (GFC) [1] is present in Bali, Indonesia, for the 13th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC, 3rd-14th December, with a team of campaigners from around the world, including ...
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• Government Experts at UN Body Expresses Strong Concern About Biofuel Impacts on Biodiversity, July 15, 2007 (Fri 30 Nov 2007)
  
  
  Paris, France--An overwhelming majority of governments, including Norway, Sweden, Germany and Indonesia expressed serious concerns about the risks of large-scale production of biofuels to forests, ecosystems, indigenous peoples and local communities at a meeting of ...
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• Side events at SBSTTA in Paris (Thu 29 Nov 2007)
  
  
  At the 12th meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice of the Convention on Biodiversity (SBSTTA) in Paris the Global Forest Coalition organised two side events:
  'Agrofuels: Contributing to global warming through massive destruction of ecosystems' ...
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• Governments must reject ‘Biofuels’ and other False Solutions to Climate Change (Fri 23 Nov 2007)
  
  
  In reaction to today’s launch of the synthesis report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in Spain, the Global Forest Coalition, a worldwide coalition of NGOs and Indigenous Peoples’ Organisations, called upon governments to reject so-called ‘biofuels’ and other ...
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• Report of the Debate “Biofuels – implications for the South” (Fri 13 Jul 2007)
  
  
  Dutch Parliament, The Hague, June 29, 2007 On 29 June, the Global Forest Coalition and Corporate Europe Observatory organised a biofuels debate in the Dutch Parliament, in cooperation with the Environment Committee of the Dutch Parliament. The aim of the hearing was to ...
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• Seminars on agrofuels and their impact (Thu 7 Jun 2007)
  
  
  Seminars on agrofuels and their impact on peoples and ecosystems in the global south, the Netherlands, June 2007
  
  In June two public seminars ...
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