Discussion between Environmentalists and Governments

The Climate Action Network just held a very successful 'side event' here at the Bonn Climate Change talks with roughly 60 people in attendance, most of them government representatives. Among those present were the US, Canada, Japan, Iceland, Ireland, Slovakia, The European Commission, Austria, France, the United Kingdom, Senegal, Bulgaria, the Holy See, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, etc.

The most lively discussion was a debate about whether countries should be excused from accounting any emissions from their forests as long as they remain net sinks. My view was, though these forests may still be helping with climate change as long as they remove carbon from the air, the governments owning these forests are not helping with climate change if their actions reduce the size of this sink (e.g. through accelerated harvest).

The presentation can be viewed online. Look for the June 2 event by Climate Action Network Canada.