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The Greenhouse Effect We all know what it is — the earth, like any living organism, cools or warms itself in order to maintain a balanced energy flow. What the earth cannot account for is the huge influx of greenhouse gases, primarily CO2, that humans have been pumping into the atmosphere at accelerating rates since the industrial revolution 150 years ago. These emissions trap the energy inside the atmosphere, hugely upsetting the balance of energy to the point where the earth’s climate has warmed almost 1 degree C over the past century, leading to more heatwaves, floods, droughts, and all other varieties of major natural phenomenon. Who Gets Hurt? Unfortunately, it is those in developing countries who are most likely to be hurt by global warming. Available drinking water, food security, ruined agricultural harvests, natural disasters—these are all symptoms of the current state of global climate, and it is the countries where the majority of people depend on sustenance agriculture for their survival who have the least capacity to weather the storm. The Kyoto Protocol In 1996, after 5 years of negotiation, the Kyoto Protocol was agreed upon by a group of signatories to the United Nations. The mandated reductions called for an average of 5% reduced carbon emissions between 2008 and 20012 among developed economies. As a means to enable highly industrialized economies to meet these standards, the Kyoto Protocol maintined 3 “flexibility mechanisms”: emissions trading, the Clean Development Mechanism, and Joint Implementation. These mechanisms serve the joint purpose of providing feasibility in meeting the deadlines while at the same time involving developing countries to benefit from the process. Nations representing 55% of all greenhouse gas emissions needed to ratify the Protocol. When Russia ratified the Protocol in 2004, the stipulations for global carbon neutrality went into effect. The United States was not one of the developed nations to ratify the Protocol. Clean Development Mechanism Under the CDM, an industrialized country can invest in a project in a developing country and claim credit for the emissions that the project achieves. For example, an industrialized country may invest in a tree planting project in a developing country that sequesters greenhouse carbon that would otherwise have floated up into the atmosphere. The industrialized country can then claim credit for the emissions that have been avoided, and use these credits to meet its own target. For industrialized countries who signed the Kyoto Protocol, this greatly reduces the cost of meeting the reduction commitments that they agreed to under the Protocol while at the same time greatly contributing to the well being of the indigenous communities of developing countries. For other industrialized countries such as the U.S., this represents an opportunity to gain carbon neutrality while aiding the lives of tens of thousands of men, women, and children who depend on sequestrated carbon for their livelihoods and survival. The African Rainforest Conservancy Since 1990, ARC has been raising money with a mission to promote the restoration of Africa’s rainforests by supporting indigenous forest conservation groups. Through private donors and an annual benefit, we have contributed over a million dollars toward grass roots conservation. This funding has enable the Tanzania Forest Conservation Group — a Tanzanian NGO based in Dar es Salaam — to develop into one of Africa’s leading grassroots conservation organizations. Over the last twelve years, ARC and TFCG have launched new Participatory Forest Management projects throughout the Eastern Arc and Coastal Forests of Tanzania. With 50 Tanzanian foresters working in over 70 villages, our PFM network now involves over 60,000 men, women, and children working to restore their natural heritage while raising their quality of life. Through fundraising in New York City, ARC provides — salaries, materials, vehicle fuel and maintenance — of the project network. Our funding currently stands at $123,000 per year, and that amount is matched by the Norwegian government. With six board members representing six lifetimes of commitment to natural resource preservation and village empowerment, ARC has been the catalyst in reversing destruction of the Eastern Arc. The board meets four times a year to discuss the current and future direction of the organization. The name-change in 2002 from the Tanzania Wildlife Fund to African Rainforest Conservancy reflects our desire to expand support to endangered regions across the continent. 4 Million Trees PlantedThe Tanzania Forest Conservation Group works alongside local forest communities to organize self-help groups, development new livelihood initiatives, and—most importantly—plant millions of trees to preserve the ancient forests of the Eastern Arc. This translates to tens of millions of metric tons of sequestered carbon, which offsets greenhouse emissions from all over the world. In addition, these new forests aid in water retention of farm soil, save local women hours each day in scourging for dead-wood cooking fuel, and provide valuable education for primary school children who, as part of their school day, learn the benefits of preserving their surrounding natural resources. A village elder in the Ambangulu region whose village had just begun these tree-planting initiatives once told ARC President Carter Coleman, “I feel like I’ve wasted my whole life, because I should have spent it planting trees.” While ARC is a certified 501 c (3) organization, there has thus far been no direct involvement with the Clean Development Mechanism. This is mainly because the United States is not a signatory of the Kyoto Protocol, and thus has relieved itself of any direct international pressure to attain any comprehensive brand of Carbon Neutral program. It is our hope that a number of enlightened and concerned American businesses will take it upon themselves to join the race to save our planet’s longterm future. Business BenefitsInvestor Interest: smart investors and analysts recognize that carbon emissions represent a real business cost. They look at carbon assets and liabilities as they would any other item on a company’s balance sheet. Put simply, if investors feel a company is not strategically managing its climate change impacts, that insecurity will be reflected in its share price. As the common household inevitably begins to understand the long and short term effects of global warming, these carbon assessments will become even more resounding. Public Demand: In the US, the consumer segment which makes its buying decisions in keeping with their values of social and environmental responsibility is growing at 1% a year, but the dollar spent in the market toward these goals—currently measured at $355 Billion—is growing at the rate of 10% a year. Raw Material Costs: The big industrial users of energy will be those who first feel the cost of carbon compliance, and they will be passing on those costs to their customers. Businesses that rely heavily on energy and raw materials like iron, steel, and cement, will feel an immediate impact on their bottom line. Many organizations are taking the current opportunity to reduce their carbon footprint at the same time as they improve efficiency, cut costs, and reduce their own climate change footprint. “$20 trillion of investor money (is) behind a request to the 500 largest quoted companies in the world, asking for the disclosure of investment relevant information concerning their greenhouse gas emissions.” “Companies with a public commitment to ethics perform better on 3 out 4 financial measures than those without. These companies also have 18% higher profits on average.” “56% of shareholders believe that responsible companies are more profitable.”An Opportunity in the Eastern Arc The Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania are listed among the top 25 endangered global hotspots. They hold at least 114 vertebrate species found nowhere else on earth and over 1500 one-of-a-kind plants—many of them medicinal herbs with the capacity to fight AIDS, cancer, and trachoma. When granted the means to do so, local men, women, and children of the Eastern Arc have an enormous capability and desire to rejuvenate these forests, and to become stewards of their natural heritage for all mankind, while at the same time raising their own quality of life. In the projects where ARC works, the results have been astounding—the forest are rejuvenating rapidly while the people are enjoying healthier, easier, and richer existences. The African Rainforest Conservancy and the Tanzania Forest Conservation Group offer an opportunity for American businesses to become involved in the global fight against the Greenhouse Effect. |
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