ABSTRACT
Twenty-five per cent of global carbon emissions are derived from deforestation, mainly in tropical countries, but under current rules of the Kyoto mechanisms, reduction of emissions from this source is not eligible for carbon crediting. By 2004 however a number of developing countries were beginning to challenge the logic of this, and in 2006 a change process was initiated by one of the smallest and least well-resourced countries, Papua New Guinea, supported by Costa Rica, based on a proposal from environmental scientists in Brazil and the NGO Environmental Defense, among others. The kernel of this proposal is that developing countries should be eligible for carbon credits if they reduce the national rates at which their forests are being lost. There is rapidly growing political support for the idea particularly from countries with large areas of
rainforests which see this as a potentially major source of finance for forest management and conservation, and from some developed countries which welcome it as a means of encouraging much greater participation of developing countries, in the global approach to mitigation of climate change. But there is counter weight from those in the international community who see themselves as the guardians of the integrity of climate policy, and who need to be assured that the carbon credits are real, human-induced and additional. They will insist on rigorous methodology for measuring and monitoring the carbon savings, which may make procedures for claiming carbon from this source very complicated, and which may greatly cut into the profit margins and thus reduce the attractiveness of this policy to potential users. There is counter weight also from some environmentalists who believe that allowing crediting of reduced emissions from deforestation will reduce pressure on energy conservation and substitution efforts; a number of larger international environmental NGOs have had considerable influence on the outcome of the negotiations regarding sinks in the past.
