Going green with REDD

Financing a new development paradigm in the Amazon is relatively low in cost compared to the environmental services produced by its standing forest ecosystems.

Take water for instance, every year, Amazonian forests pump out eight trillion tonnes of it into the atmosphere.

There is no price tag on that yet, but it has clear economic significance for Amazonian agricultural production, electricity generation and industry that generates over $1 trillion a year.

According to Viana, REDD financing mechanisms should be flexible so they can incorporate both inter-governmental funding (at national scale) and market-based funding (at project level).

It should be allowed in the carbon credit market with a quota to avoid flooding the market.

Even a small quota of 10 per cent would generate more resources than any other international financing mechanism for tropical forest conservation and poverty.

Finally to ensure appropriate benefit sharing for indigenous peoples and local communities, REDD funding should use instruments such as certification and validation.

As a relatively new alternative method for reducing emissions, REDD is now much in the spotlight, and is expected to feature prominently at the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in December in Copenhagen, where the post-Kyoto regime is due to be designed.

Email: rupi.mangat@yahoo.com