May 27, 2010

Thank you Mr. Chairman, Ministers, ladies and gentlemen.

Congratulations firstly to Norway for your leadership on this REDD+ conference and I might say-in that Canada recently hosted the winter Olympics-it's also a pleasure to be here at the Holmenkollen. Having watched your ski jumpers I am delighted to be here where the world's best ski jumpers actually train. But if you could extend our congratulations to your Prime Minister also.

Canada is a stalwart supporter of the Copenhagen Accord and of all efforts to address the global issue of climate change Canada recognizes that the work on REDD+ and an agreement is not only a crucial part of the solution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions it is perhaps the most effective solution and that it serves as a stepping stone to a successful outcome on REDD+ in Mexico later this year. We are supportive of this, and other Paris-Oslo initiatives. As noted by previous speakers, this is the best way to proceed forward on the ground.

The establishment of a REDD+ partnership, furthermore, is in line with, and reinforcing of the decisions already taken by the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which has encouraged the Parties to undertake coordinated efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and Canada supports these efforts.

Canada has one of the largest boreal forest areas in the world and we have embraced our responsibility to manage and conserve it well and we have taken significant actions to protect large parts of our forests.

In the last eight years alone, our governments collectively have protected over 50 million hectares in the boreal region as new national parks or wilderness protected areas. This is an area equivalent to the entirety of the size of Spain. That augments what is already one of the worlds' largest areas of national parks that has been set aside over the course of the lifetime of our country.

As part of our sustainable management practices, we have 143 million hectares of Canadian forest which are now certified under independent forest certification programs more than any other country in the world.

Because we believe that all countries should be accountable for how their forest management affects greenhouse gas emissions and the removal of carbon from the atmosphere, we have also developed tools to measure how our actions affect forest carbon and through federal provincial collaboration we have established a world class forest carbon information system.

We are supportive of these efforts, Mr. Chairman. We strongly support the REDD+ Partnership initiative. We are supportive of REDD+ and the partnerships between developing and developed countries, and the essential linkage has been noted previously is of course Finance, and Canada will be supportive of those efforts within the overall framework of our support of the Copenhagen fast start financing. We are pleased, in conclusion, to join the REDD+ partnership, Mr. Chairman.