Avoided Deforestation Partners Event today in Durban

Advancing Public-Private Partnerships for
REDD+ and Green Growth

The Hotel Southern Sun Elangeni
Durban, South Africa
Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011, from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m.

His Excellency Ban Ki-moon
Secretary-General of the United Nations

United States President Barack Obama
(Special Video Message)
Honored Speakers

Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE – founder, Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace (host)
Hon. Helen Clark – Administrator, UNDP, and former Prime Minister of New Zealand
Hon. Mary Robinson – President of Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice and former President of Ireland
Hon. Hillary Rodham Clinton – United States, Secretary of State (special video message)
Hon. William Clinton – Former President of the United States (special video message)
Achim Steiner – UNEP Executive Director, UN Under-Secretary-General
Andrew Steer – World Bank, Special Envoy for Climate Change
Wanjira Maathai – The Green Belt Movement, (daughter of the late Wangari Maathai)
Government Representatives
Hon. José Endundo Bononge – DRC, Minister of Environment
Hon. Tina Joemat-Pettersson – South Africa, Minister of Agriculture
Hon. Kjetil Lund – Norway, Ministry of Finance and Co-Chair, Green Climate Fund
Hon. Kuntoro Mangkusubroto - Indonesia, Head of the President’s Unit on REDD
Hon. Toga Gayewea McIntosh – Liberia, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Hon. Jonathan Pershing – United States, Deputy Special Envoy for Climate Change
Hon. Norbert Röttgen – Germany, Minister for Environment
Hon. Eric Solheim – Norway, Minister of the Environment

Conservation and Business Leaders

Jason Clay – World Wildlife Fund-US, Senior Vice President
Larry Schweiger – National Wildlife Federation, President and CEO
Peter Seligmann – Conservation International, CEO and Chairman
Sean de Cleene – Yara International, Vice President Global Business Initiatives
Puvan Selvanathan – Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, Vice President, Executive Board

This event is dedicated to the life and work of our dear friend
2004 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai.

Director of Policy on Climate Will Leave, Her Goal Unmet

Carol Browner didn't seem to have much to do with US REDD+ policies and programs. No word yet on a replacement.

Obama's Science Advisor says REDD important

Blogging from the Woods Hole Research Center/IPAM dinner at COP15

John Holdren speech before a dinner (the Customs House, Copenhagen)
paraphrased quotes only.

The President understands with great clarity the challenges of climate change and tropical forests.

And he understands we have a great opportunity. He knows REDD provides some of the greatest opportunities to get lots of early carbon emission reductions.

I have spoken with the president at length on climate change and the issue of REDD.The US will play its appropriate role. There have been some bumps in the negotiations. There always are. But we will move to a better outcome.

Obama moves trip to COP15 second week

President Barack Obama is pushing back his trip to Copenhagen in order to be at the international climate talks during the critical negotiating period, reports Politico.com

U.S. Will Propose Near-Term Emissions Cuts in...Days

By JOHN M. BRODER
Published: November 23, 2009

WASHINGTON — The United States will propose a near-term target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions before the United Nations climate change meeting in Copenhagen next month, a senior administration official said Monday. President Obama, the official said, will announce the specific target “in coming days.”

Governors urge Presidents on forests

11 Governors from the US, Indonesia and Brazil have sent a letter to their respective Presidents (Obama, Yudhoyono, and Lula) asking them to form a new trasnational partnership on forests and climate change. This is a critical development, as many of the most innovative and at-scale REDD+ activities are occurring at the state, district and province levels. This smaller-than-national and larger-than-project scale is a natural place also to see innovation in rule making. Currently, there is plenty of excitement and opportunity for REDD in the world, but until there are compliant-grade rules, investors, donors, and AID investments in REDD will be on hold.

Obama will chair MEF climate change session

If BusinessGreen reporting and BBC reporting (in title link) are true, then this Thursday we will find out how weak or strong President Obama can be on climate change. According to both stories, President Obama has asked to chair a key climate change session in the MEF (which is running parallel to the G20 meeting). Hopes are running high for an agreement on key climate change issues this week in Italy. There is a growing sense the UNFCCC process needs some clarity and direction from either the G8 or G20 and the MEF is where that will happen. Maybe these talks in Italy will be President Obama's first (and quite dramatic) foreign policy success? Imagine if he could get all the countries to agree on the basic ambitions and language to help the UNFCCC focus?

We shouldn't get our hopes up too high - other news outlets are reporting major diplomatic problems and low expectations. And the diplomatically unappealing talk of a "chairman's summary" if things can't get hammered out. Such a summary would indicate there wasn't agreement...