Carbon markets won’t save rainforests
Date: 07/02/2008
Bringing forest-based carbon credits into the carbon market could backfire on the planet, according to a new report from the Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK).
‘Carbon Sunk?’ warns that inclusion of ‘avoided deforestation’ credits could be at best too little, too late to avert deforestation, the second largest contributor to global climate change. At worst, it could flood carbon markets and devalue the price of carbon to the point that real emissions reduction projects were financially unviable.
Far greater emission reduction targets for industrialised countries must be agreed to avoid carbon market flooding, the report states. Meanwhile, in the time it takes to get carbon markets up and running, a further 65 million hectares of tropical forest worldwide could be lost.
The warning comes in the wake of the UN Climate Change conference in Bali. The Rainforest Foundation is calling for cost-effective strategies that provide long-term forest protection.
“Given the continuing depletion of tropical forests, sources of finance should be targeted towards sustainable projects which include securing the tenure and resource rights of indigenous and forest-dependent communities,” said Simon Counsell, RFUK Director. “Climate-related financial mechanisms can be linked to community-based efforts to secure local rights and protect tropical forests.”
‘Carbon Sunk’ was released at a Post-Bali Briefing hosted by Forests Philanthropy Action Network (FPAN) and the Rainforest Foundation UK on 24 January. Key environmental philanthropists, NGO representatives and individuals in the carbon trade and forestry financing shared views on the outcomes of last December’s UN Climate Change Conference.
‘Carbon Sunk? The Potential Impacts of Avoided Deforestation Credits on Emissions Trading Mechanisms’ explores carbon markets, supply and demand and market flooding. The title is a play on words with carbon sinks – carbon reservoirs allowed as a form of carbon offset by the Kyoto Protocol.
Download report here
‘Carbon Sunk?’ warns that inclusion of ‘avoided deforestation’ credits could be at best too little, too late to avert deforestation, the second largest contributor to global climate change. At worst, it could flood carbon markets and devalue the price of carbon to the point that real emissions reduction projects were financially unviable.
Far greater emission reduction targets for industrialised countries must be agreed to avoid carbon market flooding, the report states. Meanwhile, in the time it takes to get carbon markets up and running, a further 65 million hectares of tropical forest worldwide could be lost.
The warning comes in the wake of the UN Climate Change conference in Bali. The Rainforest Foundation is calling for cost-effective strategies that provide long-term forest protection.
“Given the continuing depletion of tropical forests, sources of finance should be targeted towards sustainable projects which include securing the tenure and resource rights of indigenous and forest-dependent communities,” said Simon Counsell, RFUK Director. “Climate-related financial mechanisms can be linked to community-based efforts to secure local rights and protect tropical forests.”
‘Carbon Sunk’ was released at a Post-Bali Briefing hosted by Forests Philanthropy Action Network (FPAN) and the Rainforest Foundation UK on 24 January. Key environmental philanthropists, NGO representatives and individuals in the carbon trade and forestry financing shared views on the outcomes of last December’s UN Climate Change Conference.
‘Carbon Sunk? The Potential Impacts of Avoided Deforestation Credits on Emissions Trading Mechanisms’ explores carbon markets, supply and demand and market flooding. The title is a play on words with carbon sinks – carbon reservoirs allowed as a form of carbon offset by the Kyoto Protocol.
Download report here
