Concerning emissions–well, what can an individual do? Besides buy a bicycle or walk anyplace with a mile or two from their home.(It might even solve the obesity problem from which the US seems to be suffering .) And sign every petition a citizen receives that demands our government set limits on emissions (which they have recently done on automobile manufacturers) and support clean energy research.

I read recently that China is the biggest buyer of tropical wood, and their indiscriminate wood purchasing practices are leading to poaching from the national forests of Third World countries around the world. The compensation reduction would have to provide greater incentive to the people not to cut their forests than the Chinese are providing to cut their forests. Of course, boycotting wooden items from China might provide the incentive to Chinese manufacturer's to change their purchasing policies. Just a thought on the subject.

Love, Peace, and Joy!

While carbon credits in developing countries can energize the transition to lower-carbon economies, there is a significant risk. The risk, however, is not so much famine as deforestation.

The increased demand for biofuels could prompt farmers (in both industrialized and developing countries) to clear land for biofuel crops. If farmers growing food crops convert to biofuel crops, other farmers are likely to clear more forest to plant the needed food crops.

The problem is potentially huge, since forests absorb significant amounts of carbon dioxide.  Already, deforestation – principally in the tropics – accounts for roughly 18 to 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. This amount is comparable to the total fossil fuel emissions of the United States!

An important first step is to hold biofuel producers accountable for emissions from land use change, but this isn't enough. What's urgently needed – in our view, and that of many of our partners in the developing world – is to create real economic incentives for keeping forests standing.

One innovative approach, called "Compensated Reduction", would use the carbon market to compensate developing countries that reduce national deforestation rates below a historical baseline. Poor people in developing countries would receive direct compensation for protecting forests, instead of only being compensated for cutting forests down.

The concept is fast attracting worldwide attention. It will be on the agenda at the upcoming climate treaty talks in Bali, Indonesia, and already, some developing countries are hinting they might support it – provided that industrialized countries (including first and foremost the world's biggest greenhouse gas polluter, the United States) step up to the plate with tough mandatory caps on their own emissions.

Annie Petsonk
International Counsel
Environmental Defense