The following article, though one week old, is very important, as it is the first REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) project to be approved through the “Voluntary Carbon Standard Program”. It allows the privatization of forests in Indonesia for use as carbon offsets by Shell and Gazprom–enabling them to continue polluting. This project could also signal the future of REDD, with forest carbon offset projects brought online through bilateral agreements organized outside of the UN’s Climate Convention.
It is clear to us that putting forests in the carbon market will not solve climate change, but will certainly create economic incentives to rob Indigenous and marginalized peoples of their forested lands.—GJEP
mongabay.com
August 24, 2010
A forest conservation project backed by Shell, Gazprom Market and Trading and the Clinton Foundation on the island of Borneo has won approval under a carbon accounting standard, reports Reuters.
The Rimba Raya project, which covers nearly 100,000 ha (250,000 acres) of peat forest in Indonesia’s Central Kalimantan province, could reduce projected emissions by 75 million metric tons over the next 30 years, generating hundreds of millions in carbon finance under the reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) program backed by the U.N. and World Bank.
Rimba Raya is being developed by Hong Kong-based InfiniteEARTH in partnership with Orangutan Foundation International, which aims to protect red apes and their habitat. The project avoids carbon dioxide emissions by protecting peatlands and forests, which sequester massive amounts of carbon in their vegetation and soils.
Draining and clearing of peat forest in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Photo by Rhett A. Butler.
According to Reuters, Rimba Raya marks “a milestone” in the development of a global market in forest carbon credits.
“The project has earned the first-ever approval of an accounting method for measuring the reduction in carbon emissions under REDD,” wrote David Fogarty and Sunanda Creagh for Reuters. “The Voluntary Carbon Standard program, the most respected standard for voluntary carbon offsets, approved the methodology after it passed a mandated double auditing process. The project itself is now undergoing third-party validation and is likely to become the world’s first VCS-approved REDD project later this year.”
Fogarty and Creagh say Rimba Raya’s approval will pave the way for other REDD projects currently in development, reducing some of the uncertainty that has plagued the nascent forest carbon market.
Gazprom, which controls 17% of the world’s natural gas reserves and is the world’s largest gas producer, agreed in a statement.
“This is seen as a landmark moment for the carbon market,” said Gazprom in a press release.
Deforestation, forest and peatlands degradation are a larger source of greenhouse gas emissions than all the world’s cars, trucks, ships, and planes combined. Tropical forest conservation is now seen as one of the most cost-effective ways to fight climate change, although the details surrounding a potential mechanism for compensating reduced deforestation remain unsettled.
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0824-rimba_raya.html
CITATION: David Fogarty and Sunanda Creagh.
1 comment:
Look no further than California in the CAR forestry protocols to find that the economic scaming on forest carbon has begun. Clearcutting as ususal will be rewarded additionally with CO2 credits and it can be scammed so no additional carbon is sequestered. Ignore soil carbon,and allow conversion of natural forests into tree plantations. Rich billionaire owned SPI was of course able to buy what they want in the protocols thanks to two "conservation" groups who did their bidding so they can get their land for projects.
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