The Greenpeace flagship, the Rainbow Warrior, was in London this week, stopping off on her way to the UN climate talks in Copenhagen. The nice people at Greenpeace kindly invited me to join them at a press conference they were holding onboard. It was a chance to try to get across our thoughts as the talks draw ever nearer and my thoughts were largely concerned with the fate of the world’s rainforests.
Environmentalists have described Rainforest conservation as the 'long defeat', but Copenhagen offers hope to turn that around. The great majority of nations will come to the negotiating table having recognised the value of rainforests and will be looking to build new economic models, which make trees worth more alive than dead. Negotiators have worked for two years on a treaty text, which will allow them to do this.
That is why it is so frustrating to see some world leaders pull back from their clear commitment to do a deal in December. Delay now could end our last best hope to save the world’s forests. We are all aware the natural world and all the many services it provides for people are under grave threat from climate change. Environment scientists estimate that up to half the world's species - some five million life forms - could be placed at risk of extinction by a five-degree rise in temperature.
Fewer people realise that the natural environment, so threatened by climate change, is also one of our best hopes for avoiding its worst consequences. Tropical deforestation accounts for between 15 and 20 per cent of global emissions, roughly the same as the emissions of the whole European Union and rather more than those from all ships, cars, trains and planes.
At present, rainforest is being lost at the rate of 13 million hectares a year - an area the size of England. But stemming this tide is possible. The efforts of countries such as Brazil, which has slowed its rates of deforestation significantly in recent years, show that this is not a lost cause. But critically, rainforest nations need to know now that the world - and rich nations in particular - are set on a low carbon development path. They need to know that the global economy will reward them, if they take the risk of re-setting their own development strategies to focus on forest protection. No country can be expected to risk its economy and future well being, on the basis of supplying a service - rainforest protection - which it cannot be certain the world wants.
Rainforest nations will arrive in Copenhagen hoping to get a loud, clear signal from the world that their forests are worth protecting. This means an ambitious, fair, legally binding climate deal. If they hear this, we can begin the job of rainforest conservation in partnership. If they do not, we may well be staring down the jaws of that long defeat again.
There is still time to do the right thing. Leaders have urged ordinary people, including RSPB members, to get out and show that they care about climate change - to prove that there is popular support that will allow them to move. On December 5, tens of thousands of those ordinary people will be out on the streets of London and in other cities around the world. We are keeping our side of the bargain, now it is up to world leaders to keep theirs.
Ruth Davis, RSPB Head of Climate Change Policy