New York Declaration on Forests: Where Does Burning Forests for Electricity Fit in? It Doesn’t.

It’s encouraging to see forests emerge as a major point of focus with the release of the New York Declaration on Forests. Since launching the Our Forests Aren’t Fuel campaign last year, I have been scratching my head in disbelief about the contradiction that exists when it comes to global forest climate policies. Over recent years, there has been a suite of initiatives aimed at reducing carbon emissions from forest loss and degradation, which admittedly accounts for 20% of global carbon emissions. As part of the New York Declaration of Forests, three European nations – UK, Norway and Germany – announced increased global funding for reducing deforestation and increasing forest conservation.

Forest Carbon: What Is It Worth?

Why are emissions reduction decisions being made in the real world based on a financial framework at a fraction of the cost of the actual value and real world benefit of carbon? Why are decisions concerning the forests of the South, the lungs of the nation, being made at the fraction of the true cost of carbon?

Dogwood Alliance Mourns the Loss of an Environmental Champion

Last week the world lost one of its best, brightest, and most fun environmental champions, Lenny Kohm. Lenny was a long time champion of wilderness, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, ending mountaintop removal, and protecting forests and communities across the Southern US.

FSC General Assembly: Determining the Fate of Millions of Acres of Forests

Held every three years, the General Assembly is an exercise in direct democracy where FSC’s members gather in support of the FSC’s noble idea to bring together social, environmental and economic interests into one system for the responsible management of the world’s forests. The General Assembly played out like a compelling novel; savvy business leaders sitting down with environmental activists, labor unionists from around the globe sharing coffee, leaders of Indigenous peoples from the tropics dialoging with FSC officials.

Dogwood Represents Southern Forests at People’s Climate March

The diversity of people and backgrounds that mobilized on Sunday reiterated the message that the climate crisis is a global one that, while impacting some sooner and stronger than others, will eventually affect us all. The variety of signs, ranging from calls for food justice to Dogwood’s own Our Forests Aren’t Fuel banner underscored the fact that environmental irresponsibility has devastating consequences for nearly every aspect of our lives.