December 4, 2007 - Bali, Indonesia. Protecting tropical forests would be the breakthrough that could best help combat climate change, billionaire businessman Richard Branson and Nobel peace laureate Wangari Maathai say.
Mr Branson and Kenya's Dr Maathai's comments came yesterday as a United Nations-sponsored climate change conference, bringing together 180 countries with experts and non-government organisations, opened in Bali.
Their comments were in an article in London's Guardian newspaper in which high-profile people, also including former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan and UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change chairman Rajendra Pachauri, suggested what would be the single breakthrough most likely to aid the fight against global warming.
Virgin Group chairman Mr Branson, whose businesses range from airlines to credit cards, said the "most positive but realistic thing governments could agree in Bali is to halt the cutting down of virgin tropical rainforests with immediate effect".
He called for agreement on "a method by which the major economies, big multinationals and other carbon-offset groups could pay for it".
The Bali talks received an immediate boost as Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said he had ratified the Kyoto Protocol as his first official act after being sworn in yesterday.
Applause erupted among summit delegates, lauding Australia's change of heart, which will be reinforced when Mr Rudd and three ministers go to Bali next week.
Indonesia's Environment Minister and the UN's head of the Bali conference, Rachmat Witoelar, said Australia would be given a seat at the negotiating table and invited to fully participate in talks on forging a new post-2012 treaty.
The head of the European Commission's delegation Artur Runge-Metzger said the EC was "certainly putting out the invitation" for Australia to play a full role in climate change negotiations.
Reprinted from the Herald Sun