Earning credits for forests

Lifefocus

Tuesday December 11, 2007

Earning credits for forests

IT’S IRONIC that whatever remaining forest in the tropics may be saved, thanks to climate change.

The realisation that deforestation, particularly of the peat type, is a key emitter of greenhouse gases (GHG), is likely to propel the forestry sector into the high priority list of the Kyoto Protocol’s post-2012 reduction regime.

To meet their committed reduction targets of 5% from their 1990 emission level, besides reducing their industrial emissions, developed economies are allowed to offset their emissions by purchasing carbon credits from developing countries through various schemes devised by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), such as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

Using CDM projects, rich nations can fund renewable energy initiatives in developing countries and earn credits. Under the 2008-2012 reduction period, however, no provision has been made to address forestry-based emission.

At the 11th session of the UNFCCC in Nairobi last year, Papua New Guinea and Costa Rica, with the support of many developing countries, proposed that emission from “avoided deforestation” (or Reduced Emission from Deforestation and Degradation) be included in the compensation scheme. For the first time, a group of developing nations with rainforests are offering voluntary carbon emission reductions by conserving forests in exchange for access to international emissions trading markets. The Convention is expected to finalise the recommendations from a working group study on tackling deforestation at its 13th meeting in Bali which ends on Dec 16.

Dr Andrew Mitchell, director of the Global Canopy Programme, warns that the fight against climate change is lost if the world loses its forests. Deforestation in the tropics and sub-tropics contributes between 18% and 25% of global carbon emission, second only to fossil fuel usage.

“Policy debates have been dominated by clean energy solutions, yet forests indisputably offer one of the largest opportunities for cost-effective and immediate action. It must be treated with equal urgency now,” said Mitchell.

The global utility role played by forests is largely uncompensated, and that has to change, he asserted, hopeful that the issue is gaining attention, hence paving the way to stimulate the market and create a value for forests that are left standing.

Mitchell is spearheading the Forest Now Declaration campaign calling on governments to take action on deforestation. The declaration suggests a series of carbon policies and market reforms to provide the incentive to protect tropical forests and safeguard the vital ecosystem services they provide, including carbon capture and storage, rainfall generation, regional climate regulation, habitat conservation, watershed protection and soil stabilisation. It argues for the inclusion of forest carbon credits worth billions in all national and international carbon markets.

The World Bank is finalising its Forest Carbon Partnership Facility that will help developing countries build technical, regulatory and sustainable forestry capacity to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation. It will be launched at Bali.

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