Mr. Tetsuro Fukuyama, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, to Attend the Oslo Climate and Forest Conference

May 24, 2010

Mr. Tetsuro Fukuyama, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, will attend the Oslo Climate and Forest Conference in Oslo, Norway on May 27 (Thu) (local time: the same day).
The goal of this Conference is to strengthen coordination in the international community to quickly promote the initiatives of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), one of the major climate change counter-measures. A political document which decides the establishment of REDD+ Partnership is going to be adopted.
With regard to the assistance to the efforts of REDD+, Japan has pledged approximately 500 million USD over three years as part of the Hatoyama Initiative, and has already materialized into concrete projects of approximately 160 million USD in bilateral aid. Japan also intends to host a ministerial meeting on forest conservation cooperation and climate change in October 2010, upon the occasion of the 10th Conference of Parties (COP 10) to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
At the Oslo Conference, State Secretary Fukuyama will introduce these efforts of Japan, and express to the world Japan's intention to proactively contribute to REDD+. He is also scheduled to exchange views with relevant ministers from countries including Norway, which is hosting the Conference, and Mexico, which will host the 16th Conference of Parties (COP 16) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

(Reference) Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD)

This concept aims to reduce deforestation and forest degradation caused by lumbering and other causes, focusing on the ability of forests (especially large rainforests in developing countries) to remove greenhouse gases. By setting out trend line on forest reduction (reference level) based on past trends, this concept aims to achieve forest conservation and enhancement of forest carbon stocks such as afforestation, it is referred to as "REDD+."

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