Complete list of press releases

“The agreement reached in Paris today will be remembered as a transformative moment in the long struggle to get serious about climate change. It sends a powerful, immediate signal to global markets that the clean energy future is open for business.

“It makes a moral call for dramatic action that leaves no one behind, and moves us closer to the crucial turning point when global carbon emissions, which have been rising for more than two centuries, finally begin to decline.

“Paris begins a new, more ambitious chapter in the history of climate action. The era of delay is over. We’re in the race of our lives — and we’re acting on that knowledge.

“This breakthrough happened because the nations of the world — developed and developing, north and south, large and small — moved beyond the old excuses for delay and pledged substantial cuts in the pollution that is damaging our climate. While the Paris commitments won’t deliver all the emissions reductions that are needed, the agreement provides a framework to ratchet up ambition over time: a transparent system for reporting and review, regular assessments of progress, and strengthening of commitments every five years beginning in 2020.

“These provisions and related language on ‘cooperative approaches’ are critical and should not be overlooked. They open the door for the powerful role markets must play in driving emissions down and innovation up. What is most promising about this deal is that it matches ambition with accountability by outlining a credible, transparent process for cooperative climate action among national and subnational groups. Because the agreement explicitly forbids double-counting of emissions reductions, governments and markets can move forward with confidence.”

“Now our work must turn to meeting — and strengthening — these commitments. The agreement relies on each nation to enact its own policies to reduce emissions while ensuring that their progress can be monitored by all. We look forward to each country’s work to both meet and build on their pledges in order to finish the hard work of protecting future generations.

 “The delegates in Paris have delivered several big wins for the climate. Others include:

• An affirmation of the critical role of tropical forests in addressing climate change. The agreement includes an explicit reference to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, known as REDD+. The methodological framework for REDD+ was already in place coming into Paris, but this agreement gives a valuable high-level signal for nations to move forward in implementing and scaling up REDD+.

• An agreement to mobilize funds for climate finance, from a wide variety of public and private sources, building on the commitment made in Copenhagen and doubling the U.S. commitment to adaptation finance. This funding will help developing nations get on the clean energy path and creates an enormous business opportunity for the renewable energy industry in the U.S., China and elsewhere.

• An explicit recognition of the need to turn the corner on global emissions. The Agreement states, “Parties aim to reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible.” Analysis by the International Energy Agency shows that with concerted effort this crucial turning point can be reached by 2020. The Paris commitments don’t reach this turning point, but the ratcheting up of ambition in coming years can and must do so.

“As French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said today, citing Nelson Mandela, ‘None of us, acting alone, can be successful.’ We can only be successful by working together.

“This agreement is the culmination of years of behind-the-scenes diplomacy by President Obama and Secretary Kerry, both of whom worked overtime in the final days to help deliver this historic breakthrough. They deserve a great deal of credit — as do our French hosts and leaders from the E.U., China, Canada, Peru, New Zealand, and around the world. Their focus, commitment and hard work has been indispensable, and they have my personal thanks.”

—Fred Krupp, President, Environmental Defense Fund 

“We have reached a transformative moment in the long struggle to get serious about climate change. The final text of the Paris agreement deserves to be adopted by the COP today. The agreement will send a powerful, immediate signal to global markets that the clean energy future is open for business.

“It makes a moral call for dramatic action that leaves no one behind, and it moves us closer to the crucial turning point when global carbon emissions, which have been rising for more than two centuries, finally begin to decline.

“Paris begins a new, more ambitious chapter in the history of climate action. The era of delay is over. We’re in the race of our lives — and we’re acting on that knowledge.

“If this breakthrough happens, it will be because the nations of the world — developed and developing, north and south, large and small — moved beyond the old excuses for delay and pledged substantial cuts in the pollution that is damaging our climate. While the Paris commitments won’t deliver all the emissions reductions that are needed, the agreement provides a framework to ratchet up ambition over time: a transparent system for reporting and review, regular assessments of progress, and strengthening of commitments every five years beginning in 2020.

“These provisions and related language on ‘cooperative approaches’ are critical and should not be overlooked. They open the door for the powerful role markets must play in driving emissions down and innovation up. What is most promising about this deal is that it matches ambition with accountability by outlining a credible, transparent process for cooperative climate action among national and subnational groups. Because the agreement explicitly forbids double-counting of emissions reductions, governments and markets can move forward with confidence.”

“Now our work must turn to meeting — and strengthening — these commitments. The agreement relies on each nation to enact its own policies to reduce emissions while ensuring that their progress can be monitored by all. We look forward to each country’s work to both meet and build on their pledges in order to finish the hard work of protecting future generations.

 “The delegates in Paris have delivered several big wins for the climate. Others include:

• An affirmation of the critical role of tropical forests in addressing climate change. The agreement includes an explicit reference to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, known as REDD+. The methodological framework for REDD+ was already in place coming into Paris, but this agreement gives a valuable high-level signal for nations to move forward in implementing and scaling up REDD+.
• An agreement to mobilize funds for climate finance, from a wide variety of public and private sources, building on the commitment made in Copenhagen and doubling the U.S. commitment to adaptation finance. This funding will help developing nations get on the clean energy path and creates an enormous business opportunity for the renewable energy industry in the U.S., China and elsewhere.
• An explicit recognition of the need to turn the corner on global emissions. The Agreement states, “Parties aim to reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible.” Analysis by the International Energy Agency shows that with concerted effort this crucial turning point can be reached by 2020. The Paris commitments don’t reach this turning point, but the ratcheting up of ambition in coming years can and must do so.

“As French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said today, citing Nelson Mandela, ‘None of us, acting alone, can be successful.’ We can only be successful by working together.

“This agreement is the culmination of years of behind-the-scenes diplomacy by President Obama and Secretary Kerry, both of whom worked overtime in the final days to help deliver this historic breakthrough. They deserve a great deal of credit — as do our French hosts and leaders from the E.U., China, Canada, Peru, New Zealand, and around the world. Their focus, commitment and hard work has been indispensable, and they have my personal thanks.”

—Fred Krupp, President, Environmental Defense Fund 

The State of Nevada has announced a commitment of $2 million to pilot projects for greater sage-grouse conservation through the Nevada Conservation Credit System, which is now available to land managers on private and public lands.

“The State of Nevada has shown incredible leadership in investing in solutions for the greater sage-grouse that also benefit Nevada’s agricultural and energy economies,” said Eric Holst, associate vice president of working lands and habitat markets at Environmental Defense Fund. “This $2 million designated to pilot projects will kick start the credit system by providing a strong financial incentive for landowners to earn new revenue through credit projects that can eventually be sold as mitigation to industry buyers.”

The pilot funding will be made available for projects on both private and public lands, which Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval and Department of the Interior Secretary Sally Jewell agreed last week would support the institution of the credit system.

“The Secretary recognizes the need for Nevada stakeholders to accrue mitigation credits on public lands through the state Conservation Credit System,” Governor Sandoval said in a statement. “I secured a commitment from the Secretary to immediately proceed with a pilot project to demonstrate this process in Nevada while we work towards full integration of this ability in the Conservation Credit System.”

More information about the Nevada Conservation Credit System, including information about the manual and habitat quantification tool, can be found on the state’s sagebrush website and on the credit system site.

(December 9, 2015 – Biloxi, Miss.) Today, the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration (RESTORE) Council voted to approve its first Funded Priorities List (FPL) – a compilation of restoration projects the Council will prioritize for funding and implementation following the 2010 Gulf oil disaster. This set of projects will be funded by a portion of RESTORE Act dollars designated for ecosystem restoration from the Transocean Clean Water Act settlement.

National and local conservation organizations working on Gulf of Mexico and Mississippi River Delta restoration – Environmental Defense Fund, National Wildlife Federation, National Audubon Society, Ocean Conservancy, The Nature Conservancy, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana and Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation – released the following statement in response to today’s announcement:

“We congratulate the RESTORE Council and staff on their efforts to finalize this Funded Priorities List. Our organizations look forward to continuing to monitor projects as they move into the implementation phase.

“Additionally, now that the BP settlement is near final, the RESTORE Council and the Gulf states have a tremendous opportunity ahead to achieve broader meaningful restoration and lasting resilience for the essential ecosystems of the Gulf. However, with certainty around funding levels, the Council will be faced with difficult decisions. In order to make progress toward comprehensive restoration, the Council will need a science-based process for prioritizing future projects, with a focus on more large-scale proposals. With the first BP settlement payments on the horizon, it is essential that the Council promptly turn its attention to updating the Comprehensive Plan, so that it can serve as a tool to guide future investments around the Gulf. We stand ready to assist the Council and staff as they undertake this critical next step.

“Doubling the US commitment to adaptation finance is equitable and fair. With this announcement, Secretary Kerry builds support for a strong agreement that’s designed to ladder up ambition over time. Transparency, no double counting of reductions, and stock-taking every five years are the essential elements. We can’t leave Paris without a credible framework to ratchet up the ambition—and the sooner all countries, including the United States, come back to the table, the more likely they are to step up their game.”

• Fred Krupp, President, Environmental Defense Fund

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(December 8- Washington, D.C) – A coalition of environmental groups, public health groups, and other supporters of federal climate policies today urged a federal appeals court to reject industry suits to immediately block implementation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan, which sets first-ever limits on carbon pollution from U.S. power plants. The filing demonstrates that a delay in implementation of this common-sense program would be completely unjustified, and warns that a stay could jeopardize both U.S. and global efforts to curb climate change, as well as endanger public health.

In a filing with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the coalition said industry’s “hyperbolic” pleas for a stay are without merit and unsupported by the facts.  The brief highlights America’s decades-long track record of successfully implementing public health protections under the Clean Air Act, one of the most effective laws ever enacted to protect public health.

Defending the Clean Power Plan, the coalition said in its legal brief that the plaintiffs have failed to identify any “irreparable harm” that would directly result from the Administration’s plan. Power plants, the brief pointed out, have 15 years to implement the new standards, which incorporate a broad array of compliance flexibilities that enable cost-effective emission reductions. As the brief notes, the Clean Power Plan builds on existing trends in the power sector that have allowed many states around the country to reduce emissions at a rapid rate over the last decade.

The CPP “does not require any emission limitations until 2022,” the brief said. “Once in effect, emissions reductions will phase in gradually through 2030, allowing each state to determine an optimal ‘glide path’ for compliance.’’

In one of the many supportive expert “declarations” filed with the brief, former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright also emphasized the international consequences. A legal stay, she warned, “could derail” and even “irreparably harm” the international momentum to reduce carbon pollution from power plants, the primary driver of dangerous climate change.

A centerpiece of President Obama’s climate action plan, the Clean Power Plan draws on the strength and ingenuity of American innovation to slash dangerous carbon pollution being dumped into our air, while driving investment in energy efficiency and clean energy. By limiting the carbon pollution that is causing climate change, the Clean Power Plan will also reduce pollution that causes serious respiratory diseases, heart conditions, and premature death, which disproportionately affect the most vulnerable members of society.

In addition to environmental and public health groups, a coalition of more than two dozen states and cities have filed with the court to defend the Clean Power Plan. Nine power companies, including Calpine, NextEra, and National Grid US, as well as a coalition of clean energy trade associations, have also filed briefs in defense of the Clean Power Plan and against a stay.

Clean Power Plan case resources, including today’s brief, can be found on the Environmental Defense Fund’s website: https://www.edf.org/clean-power-plan-case-resources.

The filing was accompanied by a compelling set of declarations from leading experts. A sample is below.

“A stay of the Clean Power Plan could derail the international momentum to implement the emission reduction commitments achieved at the Paris Climate Conference.” – Madeline K. Albright, former Secretary of State

“Based on my understanding of power plant health impact assessment science and modelling, it is clear to me that any further delay – as could occur if a stay of the Clean Power Plan is granted – will have the effect of further delaying the start of state planning processes, and most significantly also the start of the emissions reductions that will produce the Clean Power Plan’s public health and environmental benefits and co-benefits. Delaying Clean Power Plan implementation, as the result of a stay of the rule, will result in continued health damage — there will be additional years of morbidity [hospitalizations, chronic lung disease, asthma exacerbation and emergency visits, acute respiratory symptoms, other respiratory effects, cardiovascular effects, central nervous system effects] and risk of premature death…than would be the case without the delay in Clean Power Plan implementation.” – Jonathan I.  Levy, Sc.D., Associate Chair in the Department of Environmental Health at the Boston University School of Public Health

“’GreenLatinos’ members across the nation strongly support the Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) carbon pollution standards for existing power plants (“Clean Power Plan”). Power plants are responsible for 40 percent of carbon pollution in the United States. These long-awaited standards represent the most important action to fight climate change so far undertaken in the United States. The Clean Power Plan will begin to protect our public health immediately and in the future…[S]everal features of the Clean Power Plan, including states’ engagement with minority communities affected by power plant pollution, will begin shortly. And once implemented, the standards will serve to reduce dangerous air pollutants that cause respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses and disproportionately impact Latino communities. The Clean Power Plan will also help reduce our electricity bills and increase good jobs through investments in renewable clean energy and efficiency.” – Mark Magana, President and CEO, GreenLatinos

“For years renewable energy and natural gas generation have accounted for the vast majority of U.S. electricity generation addictions. Clean sources of energy have been growing, while coal generation has been in decline. The Clean Power Plan merely builds on this transition by requiring that States meet certain benchmarks to continue the trend. The Clean Power Plan will not transform the U.S. electricity sector, since it builds on long-term trends and does not alter the basic regulatory framework.” – Joseph T. Kelliher, former Chairman, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

“Concerns that the Clean Power Plan infringes upon the jurisdiction of FERC or the state Public Utilities Commissions are also misplaced.” – Jon B. Wellinghoff, former Chairman, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

“Communities in coal country would be harmed if the rule is stayed. The initial state plan submittal process provides workers and other members of our communities the opportunity to advocate for needed federal and state financial assistance and specific programs to enable the transition to clean energy that will allow the diversification of our economies, create good jobs, and improve our health and livelihoods in the face of coal’s decline.” – Tarence Ray, Central Appalachian Field Coordinator, Appalachian Voices

“The Clean Power Plan provides a historic opportunity for the enactment of just laws and regulations that address longstanding disparities, in compliance with Executive Order 12898. The Clean Power Plan will not only enable our communities to transition toward clean energy; it will also set a precedent on how to integrate environmental justice into rule making and its implementation, both at the federal and state levels of government.” – Dr. Robert Bullard, Dean of the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University in Houston 

NEWS RELEASE

Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), a leading global non-profit organization based in the U.S., announced alongside the Climate and Clean Air Coalition that it will participate in a new international science collaborative with oil and gas producers on a research series intended to increase the understanding of the global sources and magnitude of oil and gas methane emissions. BG Group, ENI, and Total are the three initial participating oil and gas companies.

“The biggest, cheapest and quickest way to make progress on climate change right now is to cut methane pollution, said Fred Krupp, EDF President, at a press event during the 2015 Paris Climate Conference yesterday.

“With existing technology, we can cut this harmful pollution while increasing the amount of energy available. If we get methane right, it can help the world transition to a cleaner lower carbon future. If we get it wrong it will make things a lot worse, he added.

Natural gas is over 95 percent methane and is a highly potent greenhouse gas contributing to climate change, because its short-term impact is 84 times greater than carbon dioxide on a twenty year basis. According to data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, methane pollution is responsible for 25% of the warming our planet is experiencing today.

The oil and gas industry is the largest industrial source of methane emissions. A Rhodium analysis found that the total amount of methane escaping from oil and gas operations worldwide have a short-term climate impact equivalent to 40% of global coal combustion and wastes the equivalent of all the natural gas produced by Norway, the world’s 7th largest producer.

The International Energy Administration identified reducing oil and gas methane emissions as one of five critical strategies to peak global greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 and as a “missed opportunity” unless countries develop oil and gas methane reduction goals and the regulations required to meet those goals.

The international methane science collaborative plans to design its study series using a model EDF helped pioneer in the United States – an extensive research effort that involved 50 academic and research institutions and 50 oil and gas companies engaged in a rigorous, scientific process to fill methane emissions data gaps. A model that has so far yielded 25 independent, peer-reviewed studies and collectively advanced what is known about the sources of oil and gas methane, while informing policy actions in the U.S. to reduce these emissions.

“Cutting oil and gas methane emissions is the single biggest untapped opportunity we have to slow near-term warming now. In places like Colorado, we’ve already seen that big methane reductions are possible at low costs. These are some of the most inexpensive pollution controls available anywhere, for any industry – where the problem can be fixed for pennies,” said Krupp.

Studies in the U.S., Canada and Mexico indicate it is achievable to reduce at least 40% of oil and gas methane emissions below projected 2020 levels for about a one cent per thousand cubic feet using cost-effective, readily available technologies. 

(Washington, D.C. – December 4, 2015) Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) joined a broad coalition of 15 states, several cities, the American Academy  of  Pediatrics and other major public health and medical professionals’ associations, the NAACP, environmental groups and power companies at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit today to argue in support of the life-saving Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, public health protections that are currently in effect for millions of Americans. 

Certain opponents of the historic standards are asking the court to vacate the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) fulfills a Supreme Court directive to reassess costs in its initial, or threshold, decision to regulate the hazardous air pollutants from power plant smokestacks. Power plants are our nation’s single largest source of toxic contaminants such as mercury, arsenic and acid gases.

EDF and other coalition members argued that blocking the standards while EPA responds to the Supreme Court’s decision would be unnecessary and dangerous. 

“Right now, the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards are in effect – saving lives and protecting Americans from some of the most dangerous types of air pollution. Vacating the standards would jeopardize those protections and put American families at risk of serious, sometimes deadly, health problems,” said Graham McCahan, Senior Attorney for Environmental Defense Fund. “EPA has already released supplemental findings to address this summer’s Supreme Court ruling, and it has committed to reach a final decision promptly.  Our nation’s leading health and medical experts have urged the Court not to delay or undermine these vital public health protections.”  

The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards set the first-ever national limits on hazardous air pollutants from power plants, including mercury, arsenic, chromium, and hydrochloric acid gas. These pollutants are dangerous to human health even in small doses – mercury causes brain damage in children, metal toxics like chromium and nickel cause cancer, and acid gases cause respiratory problems. 

In June, a sharply divided Supreme Court remanded the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards to the D.C. Circuit Court. The Supreme Court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must consider the costs of regulation in making its threshold determination whether it is “appropriate and necessary” to regulate hazardous air pollution from power plants.

EPA had found that the public health benefits of the standards were valued at up to $90 billion annually, but that finding was made later in the process of creating the standards. EPA had also found that the value of the benefits far exceeded the compliance costs – and since then, power companies have been able to comply with the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards at less than one-quarter of EPA’s original cost estimates, further weakening arguments that it’s now necessary to vacate the standards. 

Two weeks ago, EPA issued a supplemental finding reaffirming the enormous health benefits of reducing mercury and other toxic air pollution. However, opponents are still asking the D.C. Circuit Court to vacate the standards while EPA finishes the process of responding to the Supreme Court – a process which EPA has said would be done by April of 2016.

You can find more about the history of the case and all the legal briefs on EDF’s website.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a new scientific assessment today that found climate change will pose a significant threat to food security as well as to U.S. and global agriculture.

The following is a statement from Rebecca Shaw, Associate Vice President, Ecosystems, Environmental Defense Fund:

“Today’s report represents an urgent call to action for food companies, policymakers and agribusinesses to reduce emissions from food production and implement farming practices that increase resiliency. The risk that climate change poses to farmers, especially in developing countries, is unprecedented. 

But we also face unprecedented opportunities – we know how to make agriculture more sustainable, and we have the right tools and practices at our fingertips. Fertilizer efficiency and soil health measures such as cover crops can also mean cost-savings and yield benefits for farmers. In order to implement these measures at scale, we need increased investment from the private sector, and collaboration across the agricultural supply chain. We need to go beyond commitments and towards on-the-ground support for farmers.”

Today leaders representing the over 55 million Latinos living in the United States sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy demonstrating their support for the agency’s proposal to limit methane pollution from the oil and gas industry.

Methane is a potent climate change pollutant, and the oil and gas sector is its leading industrial source in the United States. More than half of the warming in the next couple of decades due to current emissions will be from methane and other short-lived climate pollutants. Because Latinos often work in outdoor industries such as construction and agriculture, they are especially prone to the impacts of climate change.

The 18 individuals and groups who signed this letter represent diverse leaders in the Latino community. “We hope that Administrator McCarthy and the White House will heed the call from this impressive coalition made of public health leaders, university officials, parent coalitions and others, and finalize strong common sense, cost-effective safeguards to cut methane and other air pollution for the sake of our families and all Americans,” said Lucia Oliva Hennelly, Campaign Manager, New Climate Partnerships at Environmental Defense Fund.

Oil and gas methane pollution comes bottled up with smog forming chemicals which can exacerbate asthma and other respiratory problems. This is of high concern to Latinos who already have higher rates of asthma than the overall population, and where one out of two Latinos lives in counties that violate the nation’s health-based smog pollution standards.

As the oil and gas industry continues to expand across the U.S., especially in states with large Latino populations like Texas, Colorado and New Mexico, the industry’s pollution threatens to further exacerbate poor air quality. Rising temperatures as a result of climate change can also increase pollen and other allergens, which then further trigger respiratory illnesses.

The letter sent today to Administrator McCarthy represents the interests of Latinos around the country: A July 2015 poll found that overwhelming majorities of Latinos support America’s leaders reducing air pollution as well as addressing climate change.

Latino leaders who signed the letter urged EPA to not only finalize the current proposal targeting new oil and gas operations, but move swiftly to address methane pollution from existing operations. “As Latino leaders we know this EPA rule is an important step, but to achieve the country’s methane reduction goal and to improve our health and climate we ask the Obama administration to address pollution from equipment on the ground right now,” said Analisa Freitas, Project Coordinator, Voces Verdes.

PARIS—(30 November 2015) An analysis released today in advance of the UN climate conference (known as COP 21) maps and quantifies, for the first time, the carbon stored in indigenous territories across the world’s largest expanses of remaining tropical forest. 
  
The analysis reveals that the carbon contained in tropical forests in indigenous territories of the Amazon Basin, Mesoamerica, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Indonesia is equivalent to 168.3 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide (GtCO₂)—more than three times the climate changing gases emitted globally (52.7 GtCO₂) in 2014. This represents 20.1% of the carbon stored aboveground in all the world’s tropical forests—a conservative estimate because it does not consider carbon stored in indigenous territories in other parts of tropical Asia and the Congo Basin, nor does it include the underground carbon in the peatlands of indigenous territories in Indonesia. 
  
“Indigenous Peoples worldwide have always been thought of as keepers of the forest,” said Dr. Wayne Walker, forest-monitoring expert at the Woods Hole Research Center and lead contributor to the analysis. “Now we have shown they are also keepers of a huge, rigorously quantified store of carbon and therefore global players in climate change mitigation. We know they are reliable guardians of that carbon  —  and all the important ecosystem services provided by tropical forests — as long as they have legally recognized rights to their forests.” 
  
Although indigenous communities practicing traditional ways of life have a much lower impact on tropical forests than Westernized cultures, their ability to prevent illegal development and protect their territories from high-impact uses is often limited by a lack of legal and financial support, including a lack of title to their lands. Over 9% percent of tropical forests in the Amazon Basin, Mesoamerica, DRC and Indonesia contain 76.4 GtCO₂—the equivalent of 1.5 times the world’s total green house gas emissions in 2014—are considered highly threatened because they are in indigenous territories that lack legal recognition. 
  
Addressing the situation in these vulnerable territories represents an opportunity for significant climate change mitigation, according to Chris Meyer, an Amazon forest policy expert at the U.S.-based environmental non-profit Environmental Defense Fund and another contributor to the research. 
  
It is vitally important to establish strong tenure rights that enable Indigenous Peoples to protect their lands from outside development and other threats, said Meyer. “Our analysis provides compelling evidence that countries with indigenous territories could increase their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions to climate change mitigation by implementing such tenure rights and including the contributions of Indigenous Peoples.” 
  
Last year, a collaboration of researchers, non-governmental groups, and democratically elected indigenous organizations released the first calculations of the amount of carbon stored in forests in the Amazon region, encompassing nearly 3000 indigenous territories and protected natural areas. Published in December 2014 in Carbon Management¹, that effort, also led by Walker, estimated forest carbon by drawing on satellite data and field measurements, as well as maps of indigenous territories and protected natural areas. 
  
Indigenous leaders call on climate negotiators to heed findings 
  
The analysis released today goes much further, including, for the first time, data for Mesoamerica, DRC and Indonesia. Data on Indonesia was provided only recently by the Indigenous Peoples’ Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN). 
  
“We joined this effort because we realize how vital it is to communicate indigenous contributions to protecting the planet on a global scale,” said Abdon Nababan, Secretary General of the Indigenous Peoples’ Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN), the organization that provided the data on indigenous land boundaries for Indonesia. 
  
Previous research has shown that community forest rights that are legally recognized and protected by governments often translate into healthy forests with high forest carbon storage, and reduced deforestation. But achieving secure rights requires investments to strengthen legal protections and ensure their implementation, as well as to strengthen the capacity of local people to sustainably manage and benefit from forest resources. 
  
Yet the obstacles are significant. A recent study of 64 countries suggests that indigenous peoples and local communities lack legal rights to almost three-quarters of their traditional lands, including forests. 
  
In addition to carbon storage, secure community forest rights are known to produce a suite of other economic, social and environmental benefits, including reduced conflict, improved biodiversity and water regulation, increased job creation, reinvestment in local communities, and reduced out-migration, as well as avoided deforestation. 
  
Protecting tropical forests on indigenous lands from clearing, burning, mining, unsustainable logging and other threats is not only important for preventing increases of atmospheric CO₂, it is essential for maintaining other vital environmental services. Moreover, forest destruction can have devastating immediate environmental and health impacts, such as those caused by smoke and haze arising from forest clearing. 
  
Indigenous leaders and their networks are calling on world leaders and governments to help their members protect tropical forests in their territories by:

1. titling their territories and recognizing Indigenous Peoples’ rights to resources on those lands;
2. suspending the persecution of and violence against indigenous leaders who speak out in defense of their rights and territories;
3. recognizing the contributions of Indigenous Peoples to climate change mitigation and adaptation and including those contributions in governments’ Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs);
4. implementing free, prior, and informed consent for forest conservation activities in indigenous territories; and 5) giving indigenous groups direct access to climate financing. 

“In order for us to continue to conserve the tropical forests located on our traditional territories, we need to have strong rights to those forests, and an end to the criminalization that greets our efforts to protect our lands,” said Jorge Furagaro of the Coordinators of the Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon Basin (COICA). “Death should not be the price we pay for doing our part in preventing the emissions that fuel climate change.” 
  
In the region known as Mesoamerica, stretching from the Yucatan to the Darien forest in Panama, the challenge is not to garner rights, but to prevent their wholesale violation by legal and illegal actors, said Candido Mézua, with the Mesoamerican Alliance for Peoples and Forests (AMPB). 
  
“We know from a recent study carried out in Latin America, that none of the national governments are respecting their commitment to provide indigenous peoples with free, prior and informed consent for any project that affects local lands and communities,” Mézua said. “Not only are national leaders failing to adhere to the terms of the agreement known as ILO169, but they are failing to take advantage of the most effective tool they have for preventing deforestation throughout the region.” 
  
Universally, indigenous leaders express concern that national leaders and others will  argue that all global climate funds linked to forest conservation should be channeled through them, leaving little support for indigenous activities that help maintain a sustainable way of life. 
  
“Our experience is that we need some sort of direct financing mechanism in order to ensure we will benefit from funds aimed at reinforcing conservation of our forests,” said Joseph Itwongo of the Forum for Indigenous and Traditional Peoples for Sustainable Management of Forest Ecosystems of Central Africa (REPALEAC/DRC). “We are calling on global negotiators to invest in a solution that exists already. Invest in forest peoples if you are serious about making sure the forest remains standing.” 
  
The findings reported here represent a collaborative effort between the indigenous organizations that comprise six indigenous and research groups, COICA, AMPB, AMAN, and (REPALAC), and Woods Hole Research Center and the Environmental Defense Fund. The Ford Foundation financed the work. 
  
AMAN’S Nababan noted in particular growing awareness of the need for forest guardians on the ground, as fires continue to burn in Indonesia. 
  
“From this new research, it is clear that the tropical forest carbon stocks in indigenous territories are critical for reducing climate change, but it is important to note that we also provide other essential environmental services,” said AMAN’s Nababan. “We are not putting our carbon up for sale,” he added. “All we want is recognition for the job we are doing, and reinforcement of the rights to our territories, which the Constitutional Court has already recognized. We are calling for an end to an economic model in Indonesia that is entirely dependent on destroying our forests and waterways, depriving future generations of a treasure that has no price.”

RESOURCES: 

Report: Tropical Forest Carbon in Indigenous Territories: A Global Analysis: http://www.edf.org/sites/default/files/tropical-forest-carbon-in-indigenous-territories-a-global-analysis.pdf

Map (English) of carbon density in indigenous territories: http://www.edf.org/sites/default/files/biomass_map_english.pdf

Map (Spanish): http://www.edf.org/sites/default/files/biomass_map_spanish.pdf

Map (French): http://www.edf.org/sites/default/files/biomass_map_french.pdf

(PARIS – November 30, 2015) Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) today welcomed the announcement of a joint commitment by Norway, Germany, and the United Kingdom to provide $1 billion per year until 2020* focused on payment for verified emissions reductions from forests and land use. (*Clarification 7:30 pm CET: Commitment is for $5 billion total (cumulatively) over 2015-2020 (a period of six years), with the annual amount reaching $1 billion by 2020.)

“This is a substantial addition to existing funding, and will truly take advantage of the emissions reductions potential of forests and lands. Reducing deforestation and forest degradation, along with restoration and reforestation of degraded lands, can reduce annual global greenhouse gas emissions by up to 30%, while providing multiple additional benefits such as stabilizing rainfall regimes, protecting biodiversity and securing the livelihoods of millions of indigenous and forest communities.”

•          Steve Schwartzman, Senior Director, Tropical Forest Policy

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 Environmental Defense Fund (edf.org), a leading international nonprofit organization, creates transformational solutions to the most serious environmental problems. EDF links science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships. Connect with us on our Climate Talks blog, Twitter and Facebook.

Los Angeles – The California Air Resources Board released the first official estimate  of the extent of the nearly month-long Aliso Canyon natural gas leak, showing that the rupture has discharged methane with an estimated warming impact over the next 20 years equivalent to carbon dioxide emissions of 2.6 to 2.9 million metric tons.   

While the gigantic leak is ongoing, the environmental impact based on preliminary data shows it is pumping out climate pollution with a larger 20-year warming impact than all of California’s petroleum refineries combined, or six large coal fired power plants, or roughly seven million passenger vehicles. Over the last month, the total amount of methane that has escaped has a 20-year warming impact comparable to the amount of climate pollution caused by burning more than 300 million gallons of gas, or the household energy use from over 3 million homes during this time.

“Methane may be hidden to the naked eye, but the impact of this ongoing accident on both the climate and the community is all too real,” said Fred Krupp, EDF President. “If we used technology to make this plume visible, we’d all see a giant cloud over Los Angeles County — along with a media frenzy, public outcry, and urgent government action.

Methane, the primary component in natural gas, is a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to smog formation and climate change, packing 84 times the warming power of carbon dioxide in the first 20 years it is in the atmosphere. Air sampling in the area has shown methane amounts greater than 2000 times normal, as well as recorded the presence of cancer-causing agents like benzene leaking along with the methane.                                                                                             

“Leaks on the order of Aliso Canyon are rare, but day in and day out the oil and gas industry emits tens of thousands of tons of harmful methane emissions. Yet, cutting oil and gas methane emissions is possible with some of the most inexpensive pollution controls available anywhere, for any industry. We can’t afford to ignore this issue any longer. Strong national methane policy is critical to ensure that oil and gas companies manage and monitor their facilities for methane leaks more closely,” added Krupp.

Aliso Canyon is the largest natural gas storage site in the western United States, and operates under intense pressures that can force greater volumes of gas to pump out faster. The state estimate shows between 1.67 to 1.9 billion standard cubic feet of natural gas has already been lost to the atmosphere, approximately 2% of what is stored at this facility.

“The ongoing crisis in Aliso Canyon shows how much is at risk as California’s natural gas infrastructure ages,” according to Tim O’Connor, EDF Senior Attorney & Director of California Climate. “It is also a call to action that California needs to get serious about improving oversight and regulatory measures to ensure methane emissions from the oil and gas sector stays in the pipes where it belongs.” 

Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), a leading global non-profit organization based in the U.S., and the Pembina Institute, Canada’s leading clean energy think tank, welcomed today’s release by the Province of Alberta of an ambitious target for methane reductions from the oil and gas industry. A significant element of Alberta’s climate change strategy announced today is the establishment of a firm target for the reduction of oil and gas methane emissions by 45 per cent by 2025.

“The methane reduction target for the upstream oil and gas industry positions Alberta as a leader among fossil fuel producing jurisdictions worldwide on this critical issue,” said Ed Whittingham, executive director of the Pembina Institute. “It makes sense to focus on the biggest sources of greenhouse gas pollution in this sector – methane – because it offers the biggest reduction per dollar and the goal is achievable using technology and practices that are commercially available today.”

“Alberta’s methane reduction goal sets the stage for a major win for Canada and the global environment,” said Fred Krupp, Environmental Defense Fund president. “Leading oil-and-gas nations, including Canada, can have an immediate impact on the degree of warming our planet is facing right now. But regulations of new and existing sources are critical and feasible to achieve this goal. We will continue to push for the immediate regulation of these sources working with the Government of Alberta and other stakeholders.”

EDF and the Pembina Institute recently released an independent analysis undertaken by ICF International (ICF), a leading energy industry research firm, which showed that Canada’s oil and gas emissions can be reduced by 45 per cent below projected 2020 levels, very cost-effectively all while using existing and readily available technologies. Achieving this 45 per cent methane reduction across Canada would be the equivalent of eliminating 27 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, providing the same climate benefit as taking every passenger car off the road in British Columbia and Alberta according to data from Statistics Canada and Canada’s National Inventory Report. In the case of Alberta, the report indicated that upstream methane emissions could be reduced by 45% for C$2.57 per metric tonne of CO2.

Why Methane Matters

Natural gas is over 95 percent methane and is a potent greenhouse gas contributing to climate change, because its short-term impact is many times greater than carbon dioxide. According to data from Canada’s greenhouse gas inventory, oil and gas methane emissions are one of Canada’s largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions and are almost double the size of the next largest source of methane in Canada.

On a global basis, action on methane is also a priority. At a recent International Energy Agency (IEA) meeting, oil and gas methane emission reductions were identified in the Ministerial Statement on Energy and Climate Changeas one of five key actions needed to see global greenhouse gas emissions peak in 2020 and trend downwards thereafter. The IEA characterized oil and gas methane emissions as a huge “missed opportunity” unless policy makers take action. Further, IEA recommended policy makers set oil and gas methane reduction goals and develop the regulations required to ensure those goals are met.