Climate, biodiversity, and forests : issues and opportunities emerging from the Kyoto protocol

Over past decades, two global environmental issues "biodiversity loss and climate change" have often moved in wholly unconnected domains, with no link being made between the fate of unknown species in the Amazon rainforest and emissions of carbon dioxide from power plants in industrialized countries. However, results now show that climate change is a major threat to efforts to conserve biodiversity. This report is a result of collaboration between WRI and IUCN examining why the role of forests and land-use change under the Kyoto Protocol remains controversial, and attempts to clarify and separate the issues. It concludes with recommendations that will help ensure that decision taken by the Conference of the Parties lead to the best possible environmental outcome.