According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a temperature rise beyond this level risks dangerous and unpredictable climate change. The poorest countries will be most severely affected.
Reducing deforestation and forest degradation will have substantial benefits in addition to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. These include positive impacts on biodiversity and on sustainable development, including poverty reduction and indigenous peoples’ rights.
It was against this background that Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg launched Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative during the climate change negotiations at Bali in December 2007, and announced that Norway is prepared to allocate up to 3 billion NOK a year.
The primary objective of the Norwegian Government’s climate policy is to play a part in establishing a global, binding, long-term post-2012 regime that will ensure deep enough cuts in global greenhouse gas emissions.
Goals:
1 Contribute to a sustainable development and the reduction of poverty.
2 To take early action to achieve cost-effective and verifiable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
3 To promote the conservation of natural forests to maintain their carbon storage capacity.
How to acchieve this:
1.To play a part in establishing a credible system for monitoring, assessment, reporting and verification of reductions in emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.
2.To play a part in establishing a robust, effective and flexible international architecture for efforts to reduce deforestation and forest degradation. Coordination and cooperation at both global and national level will be important, and will be given high priority.
3. The knowledge base, should be improved through funding for research and development activities in relevant fields. New, innovative approaches are also urgently needed. Arrangements will therefore be established for allocations to research and development and projects carried out by educational and research institutions and NGOs.
There will be a strong emphasis on systematic cooperation with selected NGOs, both at strategic level and in individual forest countries, and with relevant research institutions at national and international level.