news - Dutch companies move to counter climate change through REDD+

Four companies based in the Netherlands, Essent, Eneco, Desso and Dutch Development Bank FMO, are launching a unique program to reduce tropical deforestation to tackle climate change. The “Dutch REDD+ Business Initiative” is presented to the EU Commission at the EU Pavilion that is put up at the national football stadium in Warsaw where the UN Climate Change summit is currently held.

The companies hope to send the signal to negotiating parties at the UN conference that the program Reducing Emissions from Deforestation (REDD+) merits broad support from governments, non-profit and the private sector. REDD+ is currently being negotiated as part of a new climate deal that is expected to be reached in two years time in Paris. The idea is that climate finance is used to stem tropical deforestation, one of the major sources of greenhouse gas emissions.

The companies behind this REDD+ initiative believe that reducing greenhouse gas emissions through REDD+ can go hand in hand with protecting biodiversity in the tropics and rallying support for communities that depend on the forests in their livelihoods.

The REDD+ Business Initiative was initiated by the Dutch Platform Biodiversity, Ecosystems & Economy” (Platform BEE), an initiative by the Dutch Confederation of Employers and Investors (VNO-NCW) in the Netherlands and the IUCN National Committee of the Netherlands with funding by the Dutch Ministry for Economic Affairs.

 “Tropical deforestation must stop and we can play our part”, says Roland G.A. Jonkhoff, Managing Director of Dutch carpet producer Desso. “We want to demonstrate that with a relatively small contribution we can address climate change and at the same time help protect some of the world’s most diverse and threatened nature.”

 Note for editors:

 Location Launch: EU Pavilion, level two of the National Stadium in Warsaw

Time: Sat Nov 16 – 18.00 – 20.00

 The Climate Summit is held from 11 to 22 November 2013. It is the 19^th “Conference of Parties” and the fourth since the well-known summit in COP15 that failed to reach a binding agreement.

For more information and for interviews contact Jan Willem den Besten, IUCN NL, +31 681498173; janwillem.denbesten@iucn.nl