October 12, 2010, Vancouver, British Columbia: ERA Carbon Offsets Ltd. (TSX¬-V: ESR) through its 100% owned subsidiary ERA Ecosystem Restoration Associates Inc, (ERA) is pleased to announce Canada’s first carbon project involving a unique public-private partnership. The Denman Island Conservation Project will protect over 750 hectares of ecologically sensitive lands, distributed over 18 properties on Denman Island in British Columbia.
The public-private partnership involving the British Columbia Government, North Denman Island Lands Inc, ERA Ecosystem Restoration Associates Inc (ERA), and the Forest Carbon Group AG (FCG) uses an innovative agreement involving land donations, the transfer of local development rights, and carbon sequestration rights. This multifaceted agreement enabled the British Columbia Government to purchase the land for future inclusion in the BC parks and protected areas system. Without this partnership the future park area, approximately 15% of Denman Island, would have been slated for subdivision into residential properties and agricultural properties including vineyards and hayfields.
The newly protected lands are within the Coastal Douglas-fir biogeoclimatic zone, one of the rarest zones in B.C. The acquisition also includes land within the Chickadee Lake watershed and a previously logged area that provides habitat for the globally endangered Taylor's Checkerspot butterfly.
“Achieving the protection of such a large amount of both private and Crown land demonstrates that capital investment can effectively be put to the service of community and conservation goals,” said Henning Nielsen of North Denman Lands Inc.
Dr. Robert Falls, ERA’s Chief Executive Officer, commented: “This project represents groundbreaking leadership in climate policy and environmental stewardship, using creative public–private partnerships – a triple win for the province, the environment and the climate. The rich biodiversity of B.C.’s forest ecosystems makes the province, and in particular the Pacific Coast, an ideal setting for high quality forest-based carbon offset programming.”
Alexander Zang, FCG’s Director, commented: “We’re pleased to continue our partnership with ERA and contribute to strengthening Denman Island’s natural environment.”
About The Forest Carbon Group AG.
The Forest Carbon Group works to protect and restore forests. Driven by the idea that ecology and economy should mutually benefit from one another, it invests in and co-develops large-scale forestry projects world-wide. These projects not only give value to forests’ ecosystem services but also have many social co-benefits that enable involved communities to create sustainable local economies. The Forest Carbon Group offers companies tailor-made solutions for becoming more sustainable and carbon neutral using the mechanisms of the voluntary carbon market. The full service approach includes identifying, developing and financing forestry projects, and providing guidance in marketing and communications to leverage the potential of companies’ sustainable investment. The Forest Carbon Group offers real, additional, and verifiable VERs that are approved and audited by internationally renowned third parties. Founded in 2009, the Forest Carbon Group consists of spec ialists with many years’ experience in carbon markets, forestry, project development, marketing, communications and financing. The company’s headquarter is in Frankfurt, Germany.
Additional information on The Forest Carbon Group can be found at www.forestcarbongroup.ag or by contacting contact@forestcarbongroup.de
About ERA Carbon Offsets Ltd.
ERA is a Canadian pioneer in forest restoration and conservation carbon offset projects. The company’s Community Ecosystem Restoration Program located in the Lower Fraser Valley, British Columbia, began in 2005 in the District of Maple Ridge, and has grown to include five communities including Metro Vancouver. ERA has delivered over 1,000,000 tonnes of carbon offsets to the voluntary market and is engaged in the development of forest carbon projects in Canada, Africa and the Hawaiian Islands to supply international and North American voluntary and pre-compliance markets. ERA’s clients and product users include Air Canada, Catalyst Paper, HSE – Entega, Rolling Stone Magazine, Shell Canada Limited, The Forest Carbon Group, and The Globe Foundation of Canada. ERA’s carbon offsets are being validated to the ISO 14064, CCBA, and VCS standards.
Additional information on ERA can be found on the corporate website www.eracarbonoffsets.com or by contacting investor@eracarbonoffsets.com
On behalf of the Board of Directors of
ERA CARBON OFFSETS LTD.
“Robert Falls”
Chief Executive Officer
For further information, please contact:
Alex Langer,
Telephone: 604-646-0400
Email: alex.langer@eraecosystems.com
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This document includes forward-looking statements as well as historical information. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the continued advancement of the company’s general business development, research development and the company’s development of forest-based carbon offsets. When used in this document, the words “anticipate”, “believe”, “estimate”, “expect”, “intent”, “may”, “project”, “plan”, “should” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements. Although ERA Carbon Offsets Ltd. believes that their expectations reflected in these forward looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties and no assurance can be given that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements include fluctuations in the marketplace for the sale of carbon credits, the inability to implement corporate strategies, the ability to obtain financing and other risks disclosed in our filings made with Canadian Securities Regulators.
NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Pulp and paper firm signs carbon deal in Sumatra
Rhett A. Butler, mongabay.com
October 05, 2010
Indonesian pulp and paper firm Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) has signed a deal to protect 15,640 hectares of peat forest in Sumatra in exchange for carbon payments, reports Reuters.
Under the agreement signed with Carbon Conservation, a forest carbon broker based in Singapore, APP supplier PT Putra Riau Perkasa will forgo conversion of a concession located in carbon-dense peat forest on the Kampar Peninsula in Sumatra. The deal could avoid emissions of million tons of carbon dioxide over its 33-year life.
To complete the deal, Putra Riau Perkasa will need to change its Industrial Timber Plantation (HTI) conversion permit for the concession into one that allows for conservation or restoration. If the licensing change is approved by the forest ministry, it would set a precedent for Riau province, potentially ushering in other forest carbon pacts.
The Kampar Peninsula, which has one of the largest intact peat forests in the province in Riau, is a chief battleground between APP and international environmental groups, including the Rainforest Action Network, WWF, and Greenpeace. Greens blame APP for destructive logging practices, while APP maintains it operates in compliance with Indonesian law.
Location of PT. Putra Riau Perkasa (PRP) plantation forest concession in Semenanjung Kampar, Riau, Sumatra. APP's suppliers manage about 2.5 million hectares according to Aida Greenbury, sustainability director for APP. The animosity between APP and environmentalists recently reached new heights following Greenpeace's release of How Sinar Mas is Pulping the Planet, a report that alleged environmental transgressions by APP's suppliers. APP fired back with a report of its own, claiming that Greenpeace made errors in its mapping and sourcing of information. Greenpeace responded by affirming its conclusions and noting that APP's 'auditor' is controlled by Alan Oxley, who also is involved in the company's public relations efforts, negating the claimed independence of the report.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, activists were skeptical of the forest carbon deal.
"While we support the conservation of the Kampar, this project in no way makes up for the tremendous amount of damage that APP and its affiliates are having on rainforests and peatlands across Indonesia," said Lafcadio Cortesi, forest campaign director at the Rainforest Action Network (RAN), in a prepared statement. "APP should not be praised or compensated for doing something that they should have been doing in the first place."
"A critical question that needs to be answered, with public private partnerships and all land related agreements, is whether or not local communities and government know that this is happening and have a meaningful role in decision-making," he continued. "RAN maintains that if these types of conservation projects are to be successful, they must have the free, prior and informed consent of local communities and these communities must participate and receive an equitable share of the benefits."
But Dorjee Sun, CEO of Carbon Conservation, which has another project in Aceh Province in northern Sumatra, told mongabay.com, the Kampar is an opportunity to engage a historic destroyer of forests, perhaps helping it down a more sustainable path.
Conversion of forest land for a plantation in Riau, Sumatra, May 2010. Photo by Rhett A. Butler "This is an important project that Carbon Conservation had to undertake," he said via email. "After 2 years of deliberation on this APP opportunity we realized that to change the world we must change the economy. To change the economy we must change the multinational corporations. To change the multinational corporations, we must engage multinational corporations. Furthermore in Indonesia someone has to engage massive land owners like APP and it needs to be a credible carbon partner and not a fly-by-night operation."
Ultimately though, for this project to work we must ensure long lasting community benefits and that is only possible via active conservation bring poverty alleviation, healthcare, family planning & alternative livelihoods. This is of great significance because it comes at a time when UN leadership is adrift and REDD+ is one of the few rays of hope prior to Cancun. So as the first commercial REDD peatland plantation concession and will lead to a globally replicable pilot all partners have agreed to having total accountability and regular updates the media because so much is at stake.”
October 05, 2010
Indonesian pulp and paper firm Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) has signed a deal to protect 15,640 hectares of peat forest in Sumatra in exchange for carbon payments, reports Reuters.
Under the agreement signed with Carbon Conservation, a forest carbon broker based in Singapore, APP supplier PT Putra Riau Perkasa will forgo conversion of a concession located in carbon-dense peat forest on the Kampar Peninsula in Sumatra. The deal could avoid emissions of million tons of carbon dioxide over its 33-year life.
To complete the deal, Putra Riau Perkasa will need to change its Industrial Timber Plantation (HTI) conversion permit for the concession into one that allows for conservation or restoration. If the licensing change is approved by the forest ministry, it would set a precedent for Riau province, potentially ushering in other forest carbon pacts.
The Kampar Peninsula, which has one of the largest intact peat forests in the province in Riau, is a chief battleground between APP and international environmental groups, including the Rainforest Action Network, WWF, and Greenpeace. Greens blame APP for destructive logging practices, while APP maintains it operates in compliance with Indonesian law.
Location of PT. Putra Riau Perkasa (PRP) plantation forest concession in Semenanjung Kampar, Riau, Sumatra. APP's suppliers manage about 2.5 million hectares according to Aida Greenbury, sustainability director for APP. The animosity between APP and environmentalists recently reached new heights following Greenpeace's release of How Sinar Mas is Pulping the Planet, a report that alleged environmental transgressions by APP's suppliers. APP fired back with a report of its own, claiming that Greenpeace made errors in its mapping and sourcing of information. Greenpeace responded by affirming its conclusions and noting that APP's 'auditor' is controlled by Alan Oxley, who also is involved in the company's public relations efforts, negating the claimed independence of the report.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, activists were skeptical of the forest carbon deal.
"While we support the conservation of the Kampar, this project in no way makes up for the tremendous amount of damage that APP and its affiliates are having on rainforests and peatlands across Indonesia," said Lafcadio Cortesi, forest campaign director at the Rainforest Action Network (RAN), in a prepared statement. "APP should not be praised or compensated for doing something that they should have been doing in the first place."
"A critical question that needs to be answered, with public private partnerships and all land related agreements, is whether or not local communities and government know that this is happening and have a meaningful role in decision-making," he continued. "RAN maintains that if these types of conservation projects are to be successful, they must have the free, prior and informed consent of local communities and these communities must participate and receive an equitable share of the benefits."
But Dorjee Sun, CEO of Carbon Conservation, which has another project in Aceh Province in northern Sumatra, told mongabay.com, the Kampar is an opportunity to engage a historic destroyer of forests, perhaps helping it down a more sustainable path.
Conversion of forest land for a plantation in Riau, Sumatra, May 2010. Photo by Rhett A. Butler "This is an important project that Carbon Conservation had to undertake," he said via email. "After 2 years of deliberation on this APP opportunity we realized that to change the world we must change the economy. To change the economy we must change the multinational corporations. To change the multinational corporations, we must engage multinational corporations. Furthermore in Indonesia someone has to engage massive land owners like APP and it needs to be a credible carbon partner and not a fly-by-night operation."
Ultimately though, for this project to work we must ensure long lasting community benefits and that is only possible via active conservation bring poverty alleviation, healthcare, family planning & alternative livelihoods. This is of great significance because it comes at a time when UN leadership is adrift and REDD+ is one of the few rays of hope prior to Cancun. So as the first commercial REDD peatland plantation concession and will lead to a globally replicable pilot all partners have agreed to having total accountability and regular updates the media because so much is at stake.”
Monday, September 27, 2010
American Carbon Registry Approves IFM Methodology for US Commercial Timberlands
Unleashing US Forest Carbon Offset Potential
September 27, 2010 7:42am EDT
ARLINGTON, Va. — The American Carbon Registry (ACR) announces approval of an Improved Forest Management (IFM) Methodology for Quantifying GHG Removals and Emission Reductions through Increased Forest Carbon Sequestration on U.S. Timberlands developed by Finite Carbon Corporation, a leading U.S. forest carbon project developer.
Business Wire
View larger
The methodology targets privately owned industrial timberlands in the U.S. managed under an existing commercial timber harvesting program. Landowners must make a long-term commitment to manage their properties to sequester carbon above and beyond what would normally occur under an institutional timber owner’s typical business-as-usual management.
The methodology approval is groundbreaking for the possibilities it unleashes in the market. Despite the enormous potential for hundreds of millions of acres of private forestlands in the U.S. to participate in the carbon market, to date only five forest carbon projects have been registered and verified. Four of those are California-based projects registered on the Climate Action Reserve (CAR), and the fifth is a large multi-state project registered on ACR. The dearth of projects is due to the lack of workable, scientifically sound methodologies for key project types such as IFM. The methodology, the first to specifically target industrial timberlands, applies conservative assumptions throughout to ensure no crediting of non-additional activities, a flaw that has plagued existing IFM methodologies. It will be complemented in the future by other ACR methodologies for non-industrial private forests and public lands.
“The Finite Carbon IFM methodology fills a critical gap in the U.S. forest carbon market by providing a straightforward and scalable framework for commercial timber land managers to develop high-quality IFM projects,“ said Nicholas Martin, ACR’s chief technical officer. “We expect to see many good projects come to market.”
IFM has been included as an eligible project type under both House and Senate cap-and-trade bills and ACR’s methodology approval process of public consultation and expert peer review is consistent with criteria for pre-compliance recognition in recent federal bills as well as state and regional programs. This means that offsets resulting from projects developed following the new ACR methodology are a strong pre-compliance choice. Forest carbon offsets are also widely sought after in the voluntary market, where corporate social responsibility buyers seek “charismatic” carbon offsets, such as those that protect forests.
“We appreciate the rigor of ACR’s public comment and external scientific peer review process for methodology approval,” said Sterling Griffin, Finite Carbon’s vice president for project development and the methodology’s lead author. “The process really helped clarify and improve the methodology. Finite Carbon has been impressed by how quickly, yet comprehensively the process was completed, creating confidence that the methodology was meticulously evaluated by experts and found to be environmentally sound.”
“This is a major milestone for Finite Carbon and our forest carbon project portfolio throughout the United States,” added Scott Nissenbaum, president of Finite Carbon. “We need to offer solutions and options to landowners and quality offsets to buyers. We have been impressed with the knowledge and expertise at Winrock and ACR, which will facilitate this process,” he continued. “The end result is a methodology that balances concerns of commercial operability, environmental integrity and cost, all of which are crucial for high-quality projects to be developed on a scale that will have an impact.”
About the American Carbon Registry
The nonprofit American Carbon Registry (ACR), an enterprise of Winrock International, is a leading carbon offset program recognized for its strong standards for environmental integrity. Founded in 1996 as the GHG Registry by Environmental Defense Fund and Environmental Resources Trust, ACR has 15 years of experience in the development of rigorous, science-based carbon offset standards and methodologies as well as in carbon offset issuance, serialization and transparent online transaction and retirement reporting. As the first private voluntary GHG registry in the world, ACR has set the bar in the global voluntary carbon market for offset quality and operational transparency. For more information, please visit www.americancarbonregistry.org
About Finite Carbon Corporation
Finite Carbon is the country’s No. 1 forest carbon developer based on listed U.S. projects. It provides landowners with a single-source, end-to-end solution to create and monetize carbon offsets. Solely focused on forest carbon, the company was founded in 2009 by forestry and finance experts, and offers the most comprehensive forest carbon project development and commercialization service in the country. Finite Carbon, which has to date secured contracts for two million carbon offsets, valued at $12 million, is headquartered in Wayne, Pa., and has offices in San Francisco, Calif., and Cherry Creek, N.Y. For more information, please visit www.finitecarbon.com
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6443684&lang=en
Read more: http://www.centredaily.com/2010/09/27/2233508/american-carbon-registry-approves.html#ixzz10lTCaEJg
September 27, 2010 7:42am EDT
ARLINGTON, Va. — The American Carbon Registry (ACR) announces approval of an Improved Forest Management (IFM) Methodology for Quantifying GHG Removals and Emission Reductions through Increased Forest Carbon Sequestration on U.S. Timberlands developed by Finite Carbon Corporation, a leading U.S. forest carbon project developer.
Business Wire
View larger
The methodology targets privately owned industrial timberlands in the U.S. managed under an existing commercial timber harvesting program. Landowners must make a long-term commitment to manage their properties to sequester carbon above and beyond what would normally occur under an institutional timber owner’s typical business-as-usual management.
The methodology approval is groundbreaking for the possibilities it unleashes in the market. Despite the enormous potential for hundreds of millions of acres of private forestlands in the U.S. to participate in the carbon market, to date only five forest carbon projects have been registered and verified. Four of those are California-based projects registered on the Climate Action Reserve (CAR), and the fifth is a large multi-state project registered on ACR. The dearth of projects is due to the lack of workable, scientifically sound methodologies for key project types such as IFM. The methodology, the first to specifically target industrial timberlands, applies conservative assumptions throughout to ensure no crediting of non-additional activities, a flaw that has plagued existing IFM methodologies. It will be complemented in the future by other ACR methodologies for non-industrial private forests and public lands.
“The Finite Carbon IFM methodology fills a critical gap in the U.S. forest carbon market by providing a straightforward and scalable framework for commercial timber land managers to develop high-quality IFM projects,“ said Nicholas Martin, ACR’s chief technical officer. “We expect to see many good projects come to market.”
IFM has been included as an eligible project type under both House and Senate cap-and-trade bills and ACR’s methodology approval process of public consultation and expert peer review is consistent with criteria for pre-compliance recognition in recent federal bills as well as state and regional programs. This means that offsets resulting from projects developed following the new ACR methodology are a strong pre-compliance choice. Forest carbon offsets are also widely sought after in the voluntary market, where corporate social responsibility buyers seek “charismatic” carbon offsets, such as those that protect forests.
“We appreciate the rigor of ACR’s public comment and external scientific peer review process for methodology approval,” said Sterling Griffin, Finite Carbon’s vice president for project development and the methodology’s lead author. “The process really helped clarify and improve the methodology. Finite Carbon has been impressed by how quickly, yet comprehensively the process was completed, creating confidence that the methodology was meticulously evaluated by experts and found to be environmentally sound.”
“This is a major milestone for Finite Carbon and our forest carbon project portfolio throughout the United States,” added Scott Nissenbaum, president of Finite Carbon. “We need to offer solutions and options to landowners and quality offsets to buyers. We have been impressed with the knowledge and expertise at Winrock and ACR, which will facilitate this process,” he continued. “The end result is a methodology that balances concerns of commercial operability, environmental integrity and cost, all of which are crucial for high-quality projects to be developed on a scale that will have an impact.”
About the American Carbon Registry
The nonprofit American Carbon Registry (ACR), an enterprise of Winrock International, is a leading carbon offset program recognized for its strong standards for environmental integrity. Founded in 1996 as the GHG Registry by Environmental Defense Fund and Environmental Resources Trust, ACR has 15 years of experience in the development of rigorous, science-based carbon offset standards and methodologies as well as in carbon offset issuance, serialization and transparent online transaction and retirement reporting. As the first private voluntary GHG registry in the world, ACR has set the bar in the global voluntary carbon market for offset quality and operational transparency. For more information, please visit www.americancarbonregistry.org
About Finite Carbon Corporation
Finite Carbon is the country’s No. 1 forest carbon developer based on listed U.S. projects. It provides landowners with a single-source, end-to-end solution to create and monetize carbon offsets. Solely focused on forest carbon, the company was founded in 2009 by forestry and finance experts, and offers the most comprehensive forest carbon project development and commercialization service in the country. Finite Carbon, which has to date secured contracts for two million carbon offsets, valued at $12 million, is headquartered in Wayne, Pa., and has offices in San Francisco, Calif., and Cherry Creek, N.Y. For more information, please visit www.finitecarbon.com
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6443684&lang=en
Read more: http://www.centredaily.com/2010/09/27/2233508/american-carbon-registry-approves.html#ixzz10lTCaEJg
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Tanzania project first to earn VCS forest credits
Thu Sep 23, 2010 2:24pm GMT Print | Single Page [-] Text [+]
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A Tanzanian reforestation project has become the first forestry investment to be issued carbon offsets under an industry-backed standard that assures investors the emission reductions are credible and long-term.
The Voluntary Carbon Standard said on Thursday the first batch of credits had been issued this week and placed in the VCS registry.
London-based The CarbonNeutral Company, which helps firms cut their carbon emissions, is marketing the credits.
The project in the southern highlands of Tanzania involves converting degraded grassland into sustainably harvested eucalypt and pine forests that soak up carbon dioxide from the air as they grow, earning CO2 offsets.
The forests cover 7,250 hectares (18,125 acres) in Uchindile district and 3,560 hectares at Mapanda district, the VCS and The CarbonNeutral Company said in a statement.
To protect investors, 40 percent of the initial batch of 232,264 credits would be placed in a special buffer account, they said. This is to guarantee delivery of the credits going forward in case the trees are destroyed by fire or other reasons.
Pricing of the nearly 140,000 credits varied depending on sales volume and other factors, Jonathan Shopley, managing director of The CarbonNeutral Company, told Reuters, without giving a range.
He said the flow of credits is expected to increase as the project reaches full development.
The VCS sets strict carbon accounting criteria that aims to assure investors that offset projects are properly designed and transparent. They were created to try to address investors' fears about forestry projects that might be poorly managed or where the trees are later cut down, for example, through illegal logging.
The Tanzania project also met the standards of the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance, the statement said.
Ten per cent of the carbon credit revenues would be returned to the local communities to build classrooms, teachers' houses, dispensaries and roads, while 200 local people were employed in the forests.
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A Tanzanian reforestation project has become the first forestry investment to be issued carbon offsets under an industry-backed standard that assures investors the emission reductions are credible and long-term.
The Voluntary Carbon Standard said on Thursday the first batch of credits had been issued this week and placed in the VCS registry.
London-based The CarbonNeutral Company, which helps firms cut their carbon emissions, is marketing the credits.
The project in the southern highlands of Tanzania involves converting degraded grassland into sustainably harvested eucalypt and pine forests that soak up carbon dioxide from the air as they grow, earning CO2 offsets.
The forests cover 7,250 hectares (18,125 acres) in Uchindile district and 3,560 hectares at Mapanda district, the VCS and The CarbonNeutral Company said in a statement.
To protect investors, 40 percent of the initial batch of 232,264 credits would be placed in a special buffer account, they said. This is to guarantee delivery of the credits going forward in case the trees are destroyed by fire or other reasons.
Pricing of the nearly 140,000 credits varied depending on sales volume and other factors, Jonathan Shopley, managing director of The CarbonNeutral Company, told Reuters, without giving a range.
He said the flow of credits is expected to increase as the project reaches full development.
The VCS sets strict carbon accounting criteria that aims to assure investors that offset projects are properly designed and transparent. They were created to try to address investors' fears about forestry projects that might be poorly managed or where the trees are later cut down, for example, through illegal logging.
The Tanzania project also met the standards of the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance, the statement said.
Ten per cent of the carbon credit revenues would be returned to the local communities to build classrooms, teachers' houses, dispensaries and roads, while 200 local people were employed in the forests.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Oil palm plantations on peatlands won't get carbon credits under CDM
mongabay.com
September 19, 2010
Plantations on peatlands will no longer be supported by the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), a framework for industrialized countries to reduce their emissions via projects in developing countries, reports Wetlands International.
The decision, which came last Friday during the executive board meeting, will bar biofuel plantations established on peatlands from earning carbon credits that could then be sold to industrialized countries to "offset" emissions. The concern is that under the CDM, carbon finance is used to perversely subsidize conversion of carbon-dense peatlands for oil palm plantations, a process that generates substantial greenhouse gas emissions, thereby undermining any potential carbon dioxide savings from use of palm oil-based biodiesel.
“We are very relieved that within a year, the CDM Board has decided to revise the existing methodology," said Marcel Silvius of Wetlands International in a statement. "This decision now ends a perverse incentive for development of plantations on peatlands.”
A Wetlands International statement explains:
Last year, the CDM Executive Board approved a methodology that now gave till last week CDM credits to biodiesel plantations on so-called ‘degraded lands’ in developing countries. The CDM allows industrialized countries under the Kyoto Protocol (Annex B Party) to reduce their emissions via projects in developing countries. Such projects can earn saleable certified emission reduction (CER) credits, which can be counted towards meeting Kyoto targets. This methodology was meant to stimulate sequestration of carbon via replanting of degraded, devegetated land areas with renewable energy crops as alternative for conventional diesel.
In practice, this methodology gave an additional financial boast to new palm oil plantations on the logged peatswamps in Southeast Asia. These ‘degraded’ lands however still contain large amounts of carbon in the case of water logged organic peat soils. This carbon will be rapidly released upon drainage for plantations.
Draining and clearing of peat forest in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Research led by Dr. Susan Page University of Leicester found that producing one ton of palm oil on peatland generates 15 to 70 tons of CO2 over 25 years as a result of forest conversion, peat decomposition and emission from fires associated with land clearance. In other words, biodiesel produced under such conditions has a greater climate impact than conventional fossil fuels.
As such, environmental groups are calling for a moratorium on the conversion of peatlands for biofuel production. Already about 33% of all oil palm is on peat, according to Wetlands International.
The decision by the CDM Executive Board now removes one incentive from peatland conversion, although developers—especially in Indonesia—are still targeting peat swamps for expansion. Peat lands tend to be cheaper and more available than other soil types suitable for oil palm cultivation.
September 19, 2010
Plantations on peatlands will no longer be supported by the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), a framework for industrialized countries to reduce their emissions via projects in developing countries, reports Wetlands International.
The decision, which came last Friday during the executive board meeting, will bar biofuel plantations established on peatlands from earning carbon credits that could then be sold to industrialized countries to "offset" emissions. The concern is that under the CDM, carbon finance is used to perversely subsidize conversion of carbon-dense peatlands for oil palm plantations, a process that generates substantial greenhouse gas emissions, thereby undermining any potential carbon dioxide savings from use of palm oil-based biodiesel.
“We are very relieved that within a year, the CDM Board has decided to revise the existing methodology," said Marcel Silvius of Wetlands International in a statement. "This decision now ends a perverse incentive for development of plantations on peatlands.”
A Wetlands International statement explains:
Last year, the CDM Executive Board approved a methodology that now gave till last week CDM credits to biodiesel plantations on so-called ‘degraded lands’ in developing countries. The CDM allows industrialized countries under the Kyoto Protocol (Annex B Party) to reduce their emissions via projects in developing countries. Such projects can earn saleable certified emission reduction (CER) credits, which can be counted towards meeting Kyoto targets. This methodology was meant to stimulate sequestration of carbon via replanting of degraded, devegetated land areas with renewable energy crops as alternative for conventional diesel.
In practice, this methodology gave an additional financial boast to new palm oil plantations on the logged peatswamps in Southeast Asia. These ‘degraded’ lands however still contain large amounts of carbon in the case of water logged organic peat soils. This carbon will be rapidly released upon drainage for plantations.
Draining and clearing of peat forest in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Research led by Dr. Susan Page University of Leicester found that producing one ton of palm oil on peatland generates 15 to 70 tons of CO2 over 25 years as a result of forest conversion, peat decomposition and emission from fires associated with land clearance. In other words, biodiesel produced under such conditions has a greater climate impact than conventional fossil fuels.
As such, environmental groups are calling for a moratorium on the conversion of peatlands for biofuel production. Already about 33% of all oil palm is on peat, according to Wetlands International.
The decision by the CDM Executive Board now removes one incentive from peatland conversion, although developers—especially in Indonesia—are still targeting peat swamps for expansion. Peat lands tend to be cheaper and more available than other soil types suitable for oil palm cultivation.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
BNP Paribas and Wildlife Works Ink $50 million REDD Deal
21 September 2010 | LONDON | BNP Paribas Corporate & Investment Banking (BNP Paribas) has announced an agreement between its Commodity Derivatives business and Wildlife Works Carbon LLC, in which BNP Paribas will provide up to US$50 million in finance to combat tropical deforestation and climate change.
The bank’s Carbon Finance business and Wildlife Works will develop a portfolio of large scale Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) carbon projects in Africa. BNP Paribas will have the option to purchase avoided emission credits created from the portfolio.
The facility provides funding for Wildlife Works’ efforts to source, develop, implement and manage REDD projects in Africa. With BNP Paribas’ backing, Wildlife Works now has the financial resources to support its efforts to protect endangered forests in the region and reinforces its ability to manage large-scale preservation projects.
In addition BNP Paribas has the right to purchase 1.25 million tonnes of avoided emissions credits over the next five years from Wildlife Works’ Kasigau Corridor REDD project in Kenya. This project is East Africa’s first avoided deforestation project to receive validation under the Climate Community and Biodiversity Alliance standards, and is designed to bring substantial benefits to local communities in education and job creation, while protecting biodiversity at the same time.
“We intend to develop a portfolio of valuable REDD+ projects, known as much for an uncompromising approach to biodiversity protection and community development as for strong financial returns,” said Mike Korchinsky, Founder and President of Wildlife Works. “Through this agreement, African communities will benefit financially while safeguarding their environment for future generations.”
Christian de Valle, Director, Environmental Markets in Commodity Derivatives at BNP Paribas, said: “We believe that REDD+ projects will have an important role in efforts to mitigate climate change as well as in the post-2012 carbon markets. We are very pleased to form a partnership with Wildlife Works and view the agreement as an important milestone in managing forest carbon.”
The bank’s Carbon Finance business and Wildlife Works will develop a portfolio of large scale Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) carbon projects in Africa. BNP Paribas will have the option to purchase avoided emission credits created from the portfolio.
The facility provides funding for Wildlife Works’ efforts to source, develop, implement and manage REDD projects in Africa. With BNP Paribas’ backing, Wildlife Works now has the financial resources to support its efforts to protect endangered forests in the region and reinforces its ability to manage large-scale preservation projects.
In addition BNP Paribas has the right to purchase 1.25 million tonnes of avoided emissions credits over the next five years from Wildlife Works’ Kasigau Corridor REDD project in Kenya. This project is East Africa’s first avoided deforestation project to receive validation under the Climate Community and Biodiversity Alliance standards, and is designed to bring substantial benefits to local communities in education and job creation, while protecting biodiversity at the same time.
“We intend to develop a portfolio of valuable REDD+ projects, known as much for an uncompromising approach to biodiversity protection and community development as for strong financial returns,” said Mike Korchinsky, Founder and President of Wildlife Works. “Through this agreement, African communities will benefit financially while safeguarding their environment for future generations.”
Christian de Valle, Director, Environmental Markets in Commodity Derivatives at BNP Paribas, said: “We believe that REDD+ projects will have an important role in efforts to mitigate climate change as well as in the post-2012 carbon markets. We are very pleased to form a partnership with Wildlife Works and view the agreement as an important milestone in managing forest carbon.”
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Forest Fund to Invest in New Zealand
Monday, 20 September 2010 - 7:48pm
Wellington, Sept 20 NZPA - A new fund in Australia has raised hundreds of millions of dollars to invest in forests in New Zealand and Australia.
New Forests Pty has closed the approximate $A500 million ($NZ648m) Australia New Zealand Forest Fund, which will invest in timberland properties and forestry-related assets in Australia and New Zealand.
The fund's investors include international and regional institutional investors who have identified Australian and New Zealand timberland as an attractive component of their alternative asset portfolio allocation.
"Now is the right time for investors to be weighting toward the timberland asset class because of its low volatility and positive correlation to inflation," David Brand, managing director of New Forests, said.
"Australia and New Zealand's timberland sectors are restructuring as a result of the failure of several forestry Managed Investment Scheme businesses in Australia and the flow on effects of the global financial crisis. This has created a once-in-a-generation change of ownership of the forestry and land asset base -- which may be worth $A3 billion-$A4 billion -- but the strong underlying market fundamentals of the sector remain, driven by growth in Asia."
The fund's establishment comes after Harvard Management Company (HMC), the manager of Harvard University's endowment and owner of plantation forest assets in New Zealand, recently highlighted natural resources as an area of investment.
HMC is the majority owner of Kaingaroa Timberlands, the second largest owner of plantation forest assets in New Zealand behind US fund manager Hancock Natural Resources Group. NZ Superannuation Fund owns 40 percent of Kaingaroa Timberlands and it is its largest single investment.
"We believe natural resources is a core strength in our portfolio, offering inflation protection, cash flow and long-term growth," HMC said.
Port of Tauranga has said a 24 percent rise in log exports helped lift its full-year underlying earnings.
Forestry-related exports through the port rose 19 percent to 6.04m tonnes in the year to June 30. This includes pulp, paper and timber products. Log exports rose 24 percent from the previous year.
Chief executive Mark Cairns said log exports were back at 2003 levels. Log exports in July were up 7 percent on the same month last year.
China has been a big market but in July the port handled more logs destined for Korea than China.
Mr Cairns said the Indian market was also emerging strongly and the Japanese market was bouncing back. "We are seeing a firming of other markets," he said.
NZPA WGT pjg g
Wellington, Sept 20 NZPA - A new fund in Australia has raised hundreds of millions of dollars to invest in forests in New Zealand and Australia.
New Forests Pty has closed the approximate $A500 million ($NZ648m) Australia New Zealand Forest Fund, which will invest in timberland properties and forestry-related assets in Australia and New Zealand.
The fund's investors include international and regional institutional investors who have identified Australian and New Zealand timberland as an attractive component of their alternative asset portfolio allocation.
"Now is the right time for investors to be weighting toward the timberland asset class because of its low volatility and positive correlation to inflation," David Brand, managing director of New Forests, said.
"Australia and New Zealand's timberland sectors are restructuring as a result of the failure of several forestry Managed Investment Scheme businesses in Australia and the flow on effects of the global financial crisis. This has created a once-in-a-generation change of ownership of the forestry and land asset base -- which may be worth $A3 billion-$A4 billion -- but the strong underlying market fundamentals of the sector remain, driven by growth in Asia."
The fund's establishment comes after Harvard Management Company (HMC), the manager of Harvard University's endowment and owner of plantation forest assets in New Zealand, recently highlighted natural resources as an area of investment.
HMC is the majority owner of Kaingaroa Timberlands, the second largest owner of plantation forest assets in New Zealand behind US fund manager Hancock Natural Resources Group. NZ Superannuation Fund owns 40 percent of Kaingaroa Timberlands and it is its largest single investment.
"We believe natural resources is a core strength in our portfolio, offering inflation protection, cash flow and long-term growth," HMC said.
Port of Tauranga has said a 24 percent rise in log exports helped lift its full-year underlying earnings.
Forestry-related exports through the port rose 19 percent to 6.04m tonnes in the year to June 30. This includes pulp, paper and timber products. Log exports rose 24 percent from the previous year.
Chief executive Mark Cairns said log exports were back at 2003 levels. Log exports in July were up 7 percent on the same month last year.
China has been a big market but in July the port handled more logs destined for Korea than China.
Mr Cairns said the Indian market was also emerging strongly and the Japanese market was bouncing back. "We are seeing a firming of other markets," he said.
NZPA WGT pjg g
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