Nusa Dua, December 5: Protecting tropical rainforests, which soak up vast amounts of greenhouse gases, is proving a real headache at the UN-led climate talks in Bali, where delegates are trying to sort out a pay-and-preserve scheme.
Scientists say deforestation in the tropics is responsible for about 20 per cent of all man-made carbon dioxide emissions blamed for global warming. Halting the destruction, or at least curbing the clearing and burning of remaining tropical forests, is widely regarded as a crucial part of any new climate pact.
Under a scheme called Reduced Emissions from Deforestation in Developing Countries (REDD), developing nations could earn billions of dollars through carbon trading by simply leaving forests such as in the Amazon and Congo basins. “I do think we will see deforestation in the agenda for the future (negotiations),” said Yvo de Boer, head of the UN Climate Change Secretariat.
Curbing deforestation has become a top issue for the delegates at Bali because the Kyoto Protocol does not include schemes that reward developing nations to preserve tropical rainforests.
The UN hopes the conference will agree to include a REDD scheme in negotiations to work out a broader climate pact by 2009 to replace or expand the Kyoto Protocol. The problem, though, is finding a scheme that fits all developing nations, said Hans Verolme of conservation group WWF.
The idea is to issue carbon credits to qualifying developing nations and rich nations buy these credits to offset their emissions at home. It’s a system that commodities forests and rewards poor nations for keeping forests that might otherwise be cleared for hardwood or to create vast plantations for biofuels or timber to feed the global demand for pulp and paper.
