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STATEMENT BY EMMANUEL ZE MEKA,
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF
THE INTERNATIONAL TROPICAL TIMBER ORGANIZATION (ITTO),
AT THE HIGH-LEVEL SEGMENT OF THE THIRTEENTH CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES
TO THE UNFCCC - COP 13/CMP 3
BALI, INDONESIA, 3-14 DECEMBER 2007
Mr. Chairman,
Honorable Ministers,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is indeed a great honour and privilege for me to address this High-level Segment of
the Thirteenth Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC in this beautiful city of Bali,
Indonesia.
Undeniably, climate change has been elevated to the highest level of the global
political agenda. While there are many key drivers to this phenomenon, it is widely
known that emissions from deforestation represent about 20 percent of annual global
greenhouse gas emissions and that tackling deforestation is, therefore, one of the key
options for reducing these emissions. It is also common knowledge that forests
constitute impressive reservoirs that can capture and store CO2 which is a major
greenhouse gas. Tropical forests cover more than 1 billion ha and therefore offer an
enormous potential to contribute to climate change mitigation. Tropical forests are
also the depository of more than half the world’s terrestrial plant and animal species.
These are important and essential to the global ecosystem, the human well-being and
the overall health of the planet and offer invaluable development opportunities for
rural communities and the countries concerned.
The
International
Tropical
Timber
Organization
(ITTO),
an
intergovernmental
organization headquartered in Yokohama, Japan, has been promoting sustainable
forest management (SFM) in the tropics for the last 20 years in order to develop in full
the potential of tropical forests to reduce poverty, to protect biodiversity and to
conserve the global environment. The strategy of the Organization combines both
policy discussion and direct field actions. We have achieved encouraging results.
However, much more needs to be done in order to increase the proportion of
Permanent Forest Estates (PFEs) that are sustainably managed.
Mr. Chairman, ITTO also recognizes that climate change should not be taken in
isolation and should be tackled from the overall perspective of sustainable
development, which, in particular, takes into account such aspects as poverty
reduction and biodiversity conservation. This integrated approach is the foundation of
sustainable forest management, which ITTO is promoting in cooperation with all
interested parties at local, national and international levels
Mr. Chairman, the world needs more effective and focused international action on
tropical forests that will help reduce poverty, protect biodiversity and also mitigate the
effects of climate change.
A new framework of cooperation, the International Tropical Timber Agreement 2006,
has been negotiated and concluded in January 2006 under the auspices of the United
Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
With this new framework,
established procedures and a good track record of field actions, ITTO and its member
countries remain keenly interested and fully committed to advance as quickly as
possible towards the full implementation of Sustainable Forest Management in the
tropics, including reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation,
carbon sequestration through restoration, thus contributing to strategies aiming at
addressing the issue of climate change. It is my fervent hope that the outcome of this
important conference will include provisions to further strengthen these efforts.
Thank you.
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