Greenpeace Fake Newspaper: Funny & Wrong on REDD

Greenpeace, the global Juggernaut of NGOs, produced a funny faux version of the Euro-popular International Herald Tribune (IHT) for European leaders gathering in Brussels to discuss climate change.

The main link is here:
http://iht.greenpeace.org/

(The IHT has apparently asked Greenpeace to remove the "fake pages" so this link may not be up for long...)

In this imaginary version of the IHT, Greenpeace reports on a Pretend Copenhagen Agreement (complete with France abandoning nuclear power and ExxonMobil converting all to renewable). As far as shock value and humor go, this is clearly a winner.

If you look at their upper left hand button "Historic Win for Amazon Protection", it'll take you to an article about REDD (reducing emissions from deforestation in developing countries).

In the Greenpeace pretend world, a new "fund" is miraculously created by negotiators in Copenhagen to fund reductions in deforestation. Greenpeace slams the use of carbon credits for forests. This is a view Greenpeace has held for more than a decade.

Luckily, many do not agree with this viewpoint. Many countries, local communities, states and provinces and environmentalists see carbon credits as an imperfect, but critically important new tool to save tropical forests. This is because miraculous new funds for saving tropical forests just don't seem to be catching on like they used to...Norway being the exception.

Luckily, real negotiators in the real world are heading toward a real treaty where there are likely to be new funds AND carbon credits for nations that reign in deforestation. Funds are great, bring 'em on! But for real, sustained financing (decades, at many billions of dollars per year) tied to actual reductions in deforestation (unlike funds), carbon credits are an important solution that this planet cannot afford to ignore.

For more information, check out one of our older blogs here:

http://tropicalforestgroup.blogspot.com/2009/04/greenpeace-slams-redd-claims-it-will.html.