It is time for money to grow on trees

It is time for money to grow on trees

18 July 2007

World Conservation Union calls for a greater appreciation of the role of forests in combating climate change

The fight against deforestation should be rewarded with financial incentives.

That was the message from a meeting organised by the World Conservation Union (IUCN), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Convention on Biological Diversity on July 11 in Paris.

Encouraging countries to preserve existing forests with financial incentives would not only ensure more trees to soak up greenhouse gases, it would also be a big bonus for biodiversity conservation, according to IUCN.

Now it is hoped that the idea will be taken up seriously by the United Nations climate change conference in Bali later this year.

The idea of rewarding avoided deforestation was discussed as part of a joint initiative by IUCN and UNEP to make beneficiaries of ecosystem services (such as the absorption of carbon by forests) pay for their sustained provision.

Under the proposal, known as Reduced Emissions from Deforestation Degradation (REDD), a cutback in forest loss would become a new option for complying with international climate change regulations.

It would also mean that countries reducing deforestation could receive carbon credits, which are currently emerging as a significant global market. In this way, it is hoped that financial rewards for emissions reductions will motivate states to keep their forests, rather than clearing them for other land uses such as agriculture.

The idea is not without its problems, however, which include the risk that the scheme might simply move the problem of deforestation elsewhere in the world to places where it would still be more financially viable to clear forests or where states are not capable of enforcing compliance with REDD policy.

There is also concern over how the money paid to governments would trickle down to the local level and influence the livelihood decisions of people who live in and depend directly on forests for their well-being.

At the meeting it was concluded that biodiversity conservation had a lot to gain if REDD is included in the UN framework on how to tackle climate change.

For more information contact:

David Huberman, Economics and the Environment, IUCN;
e-mail: david.hubermaniucn.org; phone: +41 22 999 0308