I am Pieter, 31 years old, a geographer, bioengineer and landscape professional commited to sustainable development. Im a Belgian national and Peruvian resident currently working in a development cooperation programme in Peru.
I have been selected to participate in the Youth in Landscapes initiative during the
Global Landscapes Forum, where together with 9 others, I will be looking for creative proposals on how to ensure the implementation of REDD+ safeguards (more detailed info
below).
In doing so, I will be able to contribute in a very direct way in Paris, and afterwards in a strengthened way throughout my professional career, to facing climate change, which in my opinion is the major challenge our global society is facing today.
Just in case, a little more detail about the Forum and REDD+ safeguards:
- The Global Landscapes Forum 2015 is the most important side-event of the COP21 in Paris. Whereas the COP tries to confront Climate Change through political negotiations about emission reductions and financing adapation, at the GLF we will be looking on
how to really do this in practice, from a more technical point of view, using a holistic, systemic and multisector approach. The Youth in Landscape initiative brings together innovative and creative young (18-35) people from around the world together to propose
solutions to specific challenges that have been identified as important barriers in the fight against climate change.
- REDD+ is short for Reduction of Emissions (of greenhouse gases) from Deforestation and Forest Degradation. As forests are important carbon stocks, in many countries (especially so in developing countries), forest clearing and degradation are the main sources
of greenhouse gases emissions. Providing economic incentives to compensate for the opportunity costs of not converting forests in agricultural land, is seen as a very effective way to reduce important amounts of emissions, while at the same time conserving
biodiversity and ensure provision of important ecosystem services. However, implenting REDD is complex and not very straightforward, so in order to avoid possible negative impacts,
seven safeguards were designed. The
YIL challenge on rights and tenure will be focusing on the issue of collecting information about these safeguards, which is fundamental to its succesful implementation, but at the same time not always that easy.
