Kalra introduces Bill to protect tropical forests

India Post News Service

SACRAMENTO, CA: Given the ever-present and increasing threat climate change poses to all Californians, and the role tropical deforestation plays in escalating that threat, Assembly member Ash Kalra (D-San Jose), along with Assembly member Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica), Assembly member Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella), and Assembly member Eloise Reyes (D-San Bernardino), and accompanied by co-sponsors Social Compassion in Legislation and Friends of the Earth, have announced the introduction of AB 572, the California Deforestation-Free Procurement Act.
If passed, all California state contracts involving forest-risk commodities, such as palm oil, soy, cattle, rubber, paper/pulp, and timber, would require their suppliers to have a No Deforestation, No Peat, No Exploitation (NDPE) policy.

By adopting a NDPE policy, all contractors doing business with the State of California would, at a minimum, ensure no deforestation of primary forests, areas of High Conservation Value (HCV), High Carbon Stock forest areas, or peatlands regardless of depth; a progressive reduction of emissions on existing plantations; respect for Indigenous Peoples’ rights to give or withhold Free, Prior and Informed Consent for plantation operations on their customary lands; and protection of biodiversity and prevention of poaching of endangered species in all operations. Norway and France recently committed to implementing similar policies, but as of today, no US jurisdictions have such a requirement.

“The fact is, even though there are no tropical rain forests in California, our purchases contribute to their destruction, and we must take a stand to stop that,” said Assembly member Kalra. “A policy requiring an NDPE policy works to make our purchases more ethical, and our planet healthier.”
Tropical forests cover roughly seven percent of the Earth’s surface but harbor close to 50 percent of all species on Earth; an estimated 18 million acres of forest, an area 1/5 the size of California, is lost every year due to human activities. Tropical deforestation is responsible for an estimated one-third of global CO2 emissions.