Cutting emissions by maintaining poor countries’ forests

A group of developing countries will be lobbying other states at next month’s conference in Bali to include in the post-Kyoto climate change regime promises to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation in developing countries (REDD).

This would probably involve rich countries paying poorer states to ensure that forests are maintained.

Indonesia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Brazil are the three principal countries pushing for the inclusion of a deforestation element in the agreement, since they have the most area of forests. But other tropical forest countries support the idea including Cameroon, Costa Rica, Colombia, Republic of Congo, Gabon, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and Peru. Ministers and officials from these and some 30 other countries met in Bogor, Indonesia, at the end of October to discuss presenting the proposal to other delegates in Bali.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told the meeting that countries which reduce emissions by not cutting or burning down trees should get "a better price for each tonne of carbon saved and that price should be determined by the market".

A United Nations spokesman said discussions in Bali were expected to concentrate on how compensation could be linked to the carbon trading market. "There are various models as to how it could happen…we can expect pilot projects to emerge from the conference," said the official.

"Major economic powers should be faithful to their commitment under the current and future climate regime," Yudhoyono told the meeting in Bogor. "Developing countries, on the other hand, should participate voluntarily in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions according to their national circumstances."

Yudhoyono added: "We must be able to work out positive outcomes in Bali…We must be able to deliver decisions that will form the basis for negotiations toward a post-2012 agreement."

More than 1 million hectares of forest are destroyed annually in Indonesia, most of it to make way for pulp and palm oil plantations.

A group of developing countries will be lobbying other states at next month’s conference in Bali to include in the post-Kyoto climate change regime promises to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation in developing countries (REDD).