Next month, there will be a UN climate change summit in Bali. One proposal on the table concerns giving annual carbon credits (described here) to countries that currently have vast reserves of forests- provided they do not cut the forests down. This is a great idea because carbon credits are currently only available when trees are planted. But everyone agrees it is much more important to keep the aboriginal forests that are still standing in place. Cutting them releases large amounts of CO2. But why should the money go to the government? Shouldn't it go to the landowners and small farmers that would otherwise be doing the cutting?
I'll be keeping an eye on the summit to see how this idea is actually implemented.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
A New Carbon Credit for Old Trees
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1 comment:
That's a good question. Why aren't local landowners and small farmers direct beneficiaries of carbon credits?
Perhaps it's believed that governments are more likely to make effective use of them.
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