Isra-Mart srl: Indonesia may award carbon credit to palm growers

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Isra-Mart SRL news:

Indonesia may propose palm oil plantations be eligible to earn carbon credits under a UN-backed scheme aimed at preserving forests, a forestry ministry official said on Monday.

Such a move could potentially create a new line of revenue for the palm oil industry and listed firms like Wilmar and PT Astra Agro Lestari, but is likely to anger green groups who accuse planters of deforestation. Indonesia was the first country to develop a national framework for a UN-backed forest preservation scheme called reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD).

The scheme would allow forested developing countries like Indonesia to be paid potentially billions of dollars from rich nations not to chop down their trees.

Countries began developing domestic legal frameworks for REDD in anticipation of a global agreement on the scheme at climate talks held in Copenhagen last year, which will be continued in Mexico in December.

“If there is agreement on REDD, we could put palm oil plantations to be eligible for that,” said Wandojo Siswanto, a special adviser to the forestry minister and one of Indonesia’s lead negotiators at global climate talks.