As noted in their media release, “Global Forest Coalition and Global Justice Ecology Project have produced a new video entitled A Darker Shade of Green: REDD Alert and the Future of Forests. The twenty-eight minute video, launched today, documents opposition around the globe to controversial programs that claim to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) by putting forests into the carbon market.”
The video critiques REDD as a part of the corporate ‘green economy’ agenda, which is set to be advanced at the Rio+20 Earth Summit this June. Blue Planet Project organizer recently observed, “We are already seeing in the climate negotiations that REDD represents a precursor to a full blown false green economy. This is a system which uses offsets and trading to give corporations and the North a way out of their obligations. It also has the perverse impact of pushing people off their land resulting in unsustainable forest management.” Council of Canadians energy campaigner Andrea Harden-Donahue further explains REDD in this December 2009 blog, http://canadians.org/blog/?p=8672. For more on the green economy and how it relates to water, please see http://canadians.org/blog/?p=13290.
It is notable that the Harper government backs REDD. A Canwest News Service report in May 2010 says, “Although Canada has not yet confirmed its total contribution to the initiative, several developed countries, including the U.S., France, Australia and Norway pledged contributions that added up to more than $4 billion for the initiative…” More on that at http://canadians.org/blog/?p=3221. It also appears that the Harper government is supportive of ‘putting a price tag on nature’, http://canadians.org/blog/?p=13432.
The media release announcing the launch of this video states, “A Darker Shade of Green: REDD Alert and the Future of Forests, produced in English and Spanish, features interviews and testimonies from Mexico, Brazil, Panama, Philippines, Indonesia, Nepal, Uganda, India, and California.”
The video can be watched at http://climate-connections.org/2012/01/24/video-a-darker-shade-of-green-new-gjep-gfc-video-on-redd-now-available/, while a 3-minute trailer is available in both languages at http://climate-connections.org/2012/01/12/new-video-trailer-a-darker-shade-of-green-redd-and-the-future-of-forests/.
“The DVD edition will contain two additional films on REDD: Amador Hernández: Starved of Medical Services for REDD+, by Global Justice Ecology Project and REDD: Greed for the Trees by the Chiapas-based NGO Otros Mundos. This DVD will be made available next week.”
For more on Rio+20 and the green economy, see http://canadians.org/rio20. For all campaign blogs noting REDD, go to http://canadians.org/blog/?s=%22REDD%22.
Chapter activists and supporters are encouraged to show and share this video as widely as possible.
