Thailand Financial News

Policymakers meet 28-29 May at UN Conference Centre, Bangkok Environmental and economic policy makers from 22 Asian and Pacific countries gathered in Bangkok today at  the  opening of a two-day forum aimed at protecting forests in the face of expanding development.

More  than  100 participants will focus their discussions on incentives for investment  in  forest  environmental services in protecting and sustaining forests.   The Policymakers Forum: Economic Policy and Financial Innovation for Innovation in Forest Environmental Services is being held from 28 to 29 May 2007 in Bangkok. According to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the  Pacific  (UNESCAP),  the Asia-Pacific region has the lowest per capita availability  of  land, water, forest, and overall biocapacity. At the same time,  it  also  has the fast-growing industrial and tourism sectors, and a massive and rapidly expanding consumer class. “The  domestic  demand for environmental services from forests is growing - from  the  private  sector  a  high-earning  public,  as  well  as a voting constituency  with  increasing  awareness  and  access to information,” Mr. Pranesh  Chandra  Saha,  a  senior  UNESCAP  environment official, told the Forum. The  uncounted costs of forest losses to regional societies include forgone economic  opportunities.  The  call  for environmental services provided by forests  is a response to economic growth pressuring precious environmental resources.  International demand for environmental services, such as carbon sequestration  and biodiversity support, can be leveraged to support highly cost-effective  management  regimes  that  can  help meet local demands for environmental  services, as shown by the experiences in other regions, such as Latin America. “Environmental  protection can no longer be viewed as a burden or cost, but an opportunity for everyone if all stakeholders can find a win-win solution towards forest management. The time is right for governments in this region

to take greater steps forward.” The  Forum  aims  to  address  the  ever-increasing  demand  for timber and agricultural  commodities, responsible for the rapid retreat of the already threatened  woodlands,  not  from  an  environmental  standpoint  but as an economic threat. Among  the  highlights  of  the  Forum  is the presentation of a successful national  scheme  by the government of Costa Rica which channels funds from the  Kyoto  Protocol’s  Clean  Development  Mechanism (CDM), fuel taxes and other  sources  into  payments to landowners for sustainable management and protection of areas critical for watershed management, biodiversity support and carbon sequestration. The scheme is projected to reduce deforestation rates by half, at one-tenth the  cost,  in  the  long  run. Participants from Costa Rica will share the experience  of  the  city of Heredia, where water and hydropower utilities, ‘demanders’  of  forest  environmental services, became investors in forest environmental services. “It’s really all about growing with trees and not cutting off the branch in which  we  sit”  one  participant  noted,  in  referring to economic growth through forest protection. The  meeting  comes at a crucial time for the region as continuing economic growth  stresses  natural  resources  in particular forests. As forests are felled  and  cities  expand,  the  demand  for  the  environmental services provided by forests, such as watershed protection and mitigating landslides and  flooding, is reaching a breaking point. The situation is compounded by the   uncertainty  of  climate  change  and  increasingly  erratic  weather patterns. For more information, please visit: www.unescap.org/esd/