Brazil's President: "I Foresee That By 2020 We Will Be Able To Reduce Deforestation By 80 Percent; In Other Words We Will Emit Some 4.8 Billion Fewer

Brazil's President: "I Foresee That By 2020 We Will Be Able To Reduce Deforestation By 80 Percent; In Other Words We Will Emit Some 4.8 Billion Fewer Tons Of Carbon Dioxide Gas"
JOE ROMM, 14 OCT 09 from Worldchanging


This is really the first year since the launch in 2006 that the blog seems appropriately named! AFP reports:

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Tuesday he will offer to reduce the pace of deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rain forest by 80 percent by 2020 when he attends December’s global climate talks in Copenhagen. Lula said his pledge will come during high-stakes talks in the Danish capital that aim to push 192 nations towards a climate deal to succeed the landmark Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.
“We’re in the process of preparing our proposal for Copenhagen,” Lula said on his weekly radio program, Coffee with the President. “I foresee that by 2020 we will be able to reduce deforestation by 80 percent; in other words, we will emit some 4.8 billion fewer tons of carbon dioxide gas.”

Brazil’s rain forest, the largest on Earth, is shrinking at the rate of some 12,000 square kilometers (or 7456.454 miles) per year because of deforestation.

The world appears to be coming together to finally address deforestation, one of the biggest single contributor to climate change: