TOKYO: An initiative to fight deforestation in developing economies by tapping emissions trading markets will commence in full swing shortly, involving a World Bank-managed facility financed in part by Japan.
The Forest Carbon Partnership Facility to finance projects to curb slash-and-burn farming and other forms of forest degradation will begin soon in Vietnam, Madagascar and 23 other countries formally selected at the facility's first meeting in the United States in late October, the sources said.
The facility will sell on market credits for carbon dioxide emissions that would have been generated without the projects. Sales of the credits will then finance more projects for forest preservation.
Reducing CO2 emissions by way of curbing the degradation of forests did not receive attention in the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, even though CO2 emissions from slash-and-burn and other forms of forest degradation account for an estimated 20 per cent of global greenhouse gases.
The sources said that if the initiative, dubbed Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, is successful, it will help to combat global warming and preserve the environment.
Japan has a $10m stake in the facility currently worth $170m. The World Bank and other parties are aiming to raise around $300m for the facility.
Funds from the facility will be used to monitor illegal logging and to establish forest sanctuaries. Mechanisms will also be developed to compute the amount of CO2 emissions that would be curbed as a result. The facility could also be used to buy emissions credits.
