Code REDD Campaign to Save World's Threatened Forests Illuminates Rio+20

Thousands Gather for Iconic Architectural Projection Supporting REDD+

Corporate Champions Pledge to Buy Millions of Dollars Worth of REDD+ Emissions Reductions from Innovative Forest Protection Projects around the World.

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 20, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Thousands of people from around the globe gathered at Arcos da Lapa last night to support the launch of Code REDD, an emergency action campaign to save the threatened forests of the world.

(PHOTO: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120620/SF27657)

The celebration of the Code REDD Campaign( http://www.coderedd.com ) launch got under way as the historic Arcos da Lapa aqueduct in the heart of Rio was transformed by Obscura Digital with an architectural projection experience of visuals and sound followed by the premier of a Code REDD film that demonstrated Code REDD's solution to stop deforestation now.

The event was designed to enlist widespread grassroots support for the Campaign. The film asked the crowd to demonstrate support by going online to coderedd.com/glow( http://www.coderedd.com/glow ) to make their phones flash red with a digital "emergency code." The experience drew a parallel between the digital transformation of Arcos da Lapa and the way Code REDD aims to transform how corporations, landowners, governments and the general public unite to save the threatened forests of the world.

"Deforestation is an economic problem," stated Karin Burns, Executive Director of the Code REDD Campaign. "REDD+ is a viable economic solution that can scale to meet the massive scope of this challenge."

Earlier that day, on the eve of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio+20, Burns and Mike Korchinsky, Founder of Code REDD, hosted a press conference at the Royal Tulip Hotel in Rio de Janeiro. UNESCO, major multinational corporations, REDD+ project developers, and representatives of indigenous forest communities came together to announce their participation in the global launch of the Code REDD Campaign.

At the press conference, Gretchen Kalonji, UNESCO's Assistant Director General for Natural Sciences stressed the urgency of action against deforestation worldwide and the importance of public-private partnerships, such as the CODE-REDD Campaign. UNESCO's network of Biosphere Reserves provides a platform for collaboration and exchange among local communities on novel models for climate change mitigation, protection of bio-cultural diversity and local economic development.

Other stakeholders from Corporate Champions to community leaders expressed support for the Code REDD Campaign and REDD+ as well:

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Code REDD Campaign to Save World's Threatened Forests Illuminates Rio+20