Global accords that aim to prevent the destruction of the world’s most vulnerable forests are doomed to fail because they do not address the core issues spurring deforestation, particularly the rising demand for food crops and biofuels, according to a new report. Policymakers pay too much attention to the role of forests as a store of carbon dioxide, the International Union of Forest Research Organizations said, and not enough to the fundamental challenge to forest management — that deforestation is the result of 
economic pressures imposed from the outside. The panel criticized the United Nations program known as REDD because it seeks a global, top-down solution to deforestation. “Our findings suggest that disregarding the impact on forests of sectors such as agriculture and energy will doom any new international efforts whose goal is to conserve and slow climate change,” said Jeremy Rayner, a University of Saskatchewan scientist and chairman of the panel. With Africa and South America losing 18.3 million acres of forest (7.4 million hectares) annually, the panel said a significant shift in policy worldwide is needed. The report, produced by 60 international experts, will be presented at a UN forum this week.
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