Chris Henschel

"Fighting Climate Change and Protecting Forests" - Executive Summary - Final Report - list of principles from the Climate Action Network to be used by country negotiators in the UN process - discussion paper from the Climate Action Network containing policy options - working paper from the international research community containing policy options

Bio

Chris has been working for the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society for most of the past 10 years. His career goal is to advance the protection of wilderness and habitat conservation in the world's forests. He is a leader in the Canadian conservation community in using market-based reform to achieve these goals. He is dedicated to the not-for-profit sector, but also has experience consulting and working with the private sector. The accomplishments of which he is most proud are his involvement in the protection of millions of hectares of public forest land in Canada and his role in developing strong national environmental standards for forestry under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). His work has also included the identification of high conservation value forests for protection on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia.

In addition, Chris has volunteered as Treasurer and Chair of Finances and Fundraising Committee with the National Coordinating Committee of Peace Brigades International and a Board member of CPAWS - Wildlands League. He has travelled extensively on five continents and has a love of languages. He is striving towards fluency in French and German.

Issue of Investigation

As a recipient of the 2007 Gordon Global Fellowship, Chris will focus on whether rules can be developed under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (e.g. the Kyoto Protocol) to encourage forest protection as part of climate change response strategies. Roughly twenty percent of the world's annual greenhouse gas emissions result from deforestation and forest degradation. The world's remaining forests contain vast stores of carbon that need to be held in place to mitigate future climate change. The protection of intact forests will also allow species to adapt to a rapidly changing climate.