CARE calls for forestry and sustainable land management to be included in the European Union's carbon market

Lisbon, November 5, 2007 - The EU is missing an historic opportunity to fight poverty as well as climate change because it is excluding forestry projects from its Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), said CARE International today ahead of the EU Development Days meeting in Lisbon.

Deforestation in the tropics and sub-tropics contributes between 18 and 25 per cent of global carbon emissions, second only to the use of fossil fuels.

Although it has been recognised that forests are central to the fight against climate change, projects working to counter deforestation and restore forests are not eligible to earn carbon credits under the ETS. If they were eligible, these credits could be sold to help fund more projects that reduce the threat of catastrophic climate change while also supporting the development of poor communities.

"While credits from industrial projects are acceptable, forestry and land use management credits, the major kind that poor people can generate, are not. That's not fair." said Dr. Charles Ehrhart, Climate Change Coordinator for CARE International.

"Including forestry and land use management in the ETS would unlock vast potential funds to replicate a type of project that not only mitigates against climate change but reduces poverty, conserves biodiversity and can restore critical ecosystems," said Ehrhart. "The EU is missing an opportunity, at the expense of the poor."

By 2010, as much as $50 billion is projected to be changing hands through trade in global carbon markets. Agriculture, forestry and other land use change projects have already successfully used financial resources from carbon markets to support poor communities and climate change goals.

"If we lose the world's forests, we lose the fight against climate change," continued Ehrhart. "Forest peoples, communities and governments need real incentives to maintain and grow their forest capital - it is in the EU's power to provide that incentive."

Across Africa, Asia and Latin America, CARE is helping people to save their forests, but also working with government authorities and communities to actively restore forest assets. CARE's Mi Bosque project in Guatemala, for example, is re-introducing trees and in doing so pulling carbon out of the atmosphere. This has a market value, which CARE is cashing in to finance projects that protect water supplies, increase poor people's incomes, increase food production, and reduce the impact of disasters.

About CARE International: CARE is one of the world's largest aid agencies, working in 70 countries to fight poverty and helping more than 55 million people every year. Our long-term programmes tackle the deep-seated causes of poverty and we are always among the first to respond when disaster strikes. We remain with communities to help them rebuild their lives long after the cameras have gone. www.careinternational.org.uk

Notes to editors:

o EU Development Days 2007 is in Lisbon from 7-9 November www.eudevdays.eu

o CARE International will be hosting a side event in partnership with the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA). On Thursday 8 November, 16.00 -17.00 in Room 1. Promise or peril? Addressing the parallel priorities of climate change, poverty and conservation through "multiple-benefit" agriculture, forestry and other land-use projects

1. As much as 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from deforestation and forest degradation. Only the electricity and home heating sector contributes more.

2. Deforestation in Brazil and Indonesia alone will cancel out 80 percent of the gains achieved if industrialised nations meet their Kyoto targets.

3. There are roughly 1 billion hectares of farmland in developing countries that could be converted to highly productive agro-forestry systems. In so doing, they would provide multiple benefits to poor people whilst safely sequestering significant amounts of carbon.

4. If completely implemented over the next fifty years, the spread of agro-forestry systems could result in 50 billion tons of carbon dioxide being removed from the atmosphere. This would amount to slightly less that 30 percent of the total carbon reduction challenge. Put another way, this would be the equivalent of replacing 1,400 large coal-fired plants with modern gas-fired facilities or increasing the fuel economy of 2 billion cars from 12 to 25 kilometres per litre/30 to 60 miles per gallon.

5. Remote sensing technology can now confidently monitor and validate carbon sequestration across great areas at a modest cost, making bio-sequestration projects one of the most cost-effective ways to combat climate change.

6. The carbon-offset market continues to grow at a remarkable rate. Approximately US$30 billion in carbon credits changed hands during 2006. This was up from $10 billion in 2005, and some analysts suggest that annual market volume could surpass $1 trillion by 2025.

For more information or interviews, please contact: In Lisbon, during EU Development Days: Carol Monoyios, +44 (0) 7917 822543 In UK: Amber Meikle, +44 (0) 207 934 9348, meikle@careinternational.org