Greenpeace urges leaders to address climate issue at summit
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Twelve days before the critical UN Copenhagen Climate Summit, Greenpeace activists shut down the export facilities of an Indonesian major pulp mill operated by Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) which has been identified as one of major rainforest destroyers in the country, a statement sent by the nature conservancy campaigner organization said on Wednesday.
Twelve activists blocked cranes at the port to stop pulp exports, and displayed banners reading: "Forest Destruction: You can stop this", urging world leaders, including Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, to take strong leadership action in averting climate chaos and to provide a global fund to end the deforestation as part of a fair, ambitious and legally binding climate deal at the upcoming Copenhagen Climate Summit scheduled in December.
"Deforestation is one of the roots of the climate crisis. We are shutting down the exports of one of the world's largest pulp mills at the frontline of forest destruction to tell our elected leaders that they can and must pull us back from the brink of catastrophic climate change," Shailandra Yashwant, Campaign Director, Greenpeace Southeast Asia said.
The Greenpeace action comes as it learned that U.S. President Barack Obama is attempting to relegate the Copenhagen Climate deal to nothing but a political statement and to postpone critical decisions on a legally binding agreement.
"President Obama and other world leaders cannot be allowed to sabotage a strong outcome in Copenhagen because of their lack of political will," Shailandra said
Paper giant APP sells its products on the global market in China, the United States, Europe and Australia and supplies many international brands and distributors with paper products including Vogue, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Marc Jacobs.
The APP, alongside its main competitor APRIL, are together responsible for destroying rainforests and carbon-rich peat soil across Indonesia, including on the endangered Kampar Peninsula, Sumatra, the Greenpeace said.
The nature campaigner added that the peninsula stores 2 billion tons of carbon. It is also one of the planet's largest natural carbon depositors and a key defense against global climate change.
Greenpeace Southeast Asia Campaigner Bustar Maitar said that stopping forest destruction in Indonesia and around the globe is not only one of the quickest but also one of the most cost effective ways to prevent runaway climate change.
Greenpeace learned that a million hectares of forests are destroyed every month in the world. It equals to the size of a football pitch every two seconds, emitting plenty CO2 that makes deforestation one of the main causes of climate change and is responsible for about a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions.
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