Isra-Mart srl:Cautious optimism for Cancun REDD forest deal

www.isra-mart.com

Isra-Mart srl news:

Experts have today cautioned that further agreements may be needed before rich countries can begin to pay poorer nations to expand forestry protection measures, despite the global deal negotiated at the Cancun Summit.

The central Cancun Accord outlined plans to create a framework for the proposed Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) menchanism that will see developed nations provide finance to help developing countries protect forests, but it made no explicit mention of how the scheme will be funded.

Ministers swerved a decision on using carbon markets to generate the requisite cash – a long-standing sticking point – and only requested that governments explore financing options before the next round of climate talks in Durban, South Africa.

Jon Williams, a partner at PwC, told BusinessGreen that the $4.5bn (£2.85m) pledged so far to help set up REDD was likely to come from the 'fast-start' funding promised at Copenhagen last year, while more long term cash would be drawn from the newly formed Green Climate Fund.

Industrialised nations have been pushing for forestry protection to be funded through the sale for carbon credits. But Williams said the entire deal would have been in je.

opardy had negotiators insisted on including provisions to include forestry in the carbon market in the text.

The proposals for a market-based mechanism have drawn criticism from green groups as it could allow developed countries to buy forest carbon credits through REDD instead of focusing on reducing their carbon emissions.

Some observers have also warned that a loophole that allows for sub-national accounting of emission reductions from deforestation could inadvertently see logging increase if there are no mechanisms in place to account for "leakage", whereby deforestation is simply moved from one country to another.

Environmental group FERN warned that without binding emissions targets, a REDD agreement would do little to halt climate change.

"If the loopholes now in the REDD text – for offsets and for leakage – are not closed, this initiative will not reduce deforestation," said Kate Dooley, Forest Campaigner at FERN.

Countries receiving compensation are required to detail what environmental and social safeguards they are taking, but campaigners highlighted that there is no agreement on how these reports will be compiled, monitored or verified and no mention has been made of the consequences of failing to provide reports.

However, others were more confident that just having a deal in place, albeit one lacking much detail, represented real progress.

"If we compare the decision here on forests with what was on the table two years ago, important progress has been made," said Lars Løvold, Director of Rainforest Foundation Norway.

Meanwhile, Williams said he was confident that negotiators would finalise the outstanding details over the coming year, before cementing the agreement in Durban.

"A lot depends on what happens in the next six months; this is a stepping stone to a final agreement," he said. "The challenge is to take the wording we have forward. But the tone in the negotiation rooms was confident."