SOME THING MORE ON REDD

Experts see thorny road ahead for deforestation negotiations
The working group on Reduction of Emissions by Deforestation (and Degradation) in Developing Countries (REDD) was constituted and is tasked with arriving at a mechanism to incorporate deforestation reduction into the framework of the Kyoto Protocol and the carbon market.
At present, forests store about 686 gigatonnes (GT) of carbon — about 50 per cent more than the atmosphere — and are being cleared at an average rate of about 13 million hectares per annum. This makes deforestation responsible for between 20 and 25 per cent of global green house gas emissions.

Accordingly, several possible models are being considered. On the one hand, some suggest a purely government-centric model where richer Annex-1 countries and donor bodies compensate developing countries for safeguarding their forests. This would fall under the scope of “Adaptation Measures” under the Kyoto Protocol and could be funded by the Adaptation Fund. However, other countries, such as India, have pointed out that the Adaptation Fund is yet to be operationalised; even if it is, it would have only about $5 billion by 2012. Thus India proposes that forests be kept separate from the mechanisms of the Protocol and can be financed by separate financial instruments developed by the UNFCCC.
Another approach envisages integrating REDD into the existing carbon markets. The idea is to come up with a system of carbon credits for forest cover – thereby allowing developing countries to trade their credits on the carbon market and hence generate funds for conservation. However, experts warned that such a system shall require deliberation.
Hare and Greenpeace have proposed an alternative hybrid model that envisages pivotal roles for states and markets.