Will the new Climate Bill help protecting forests or become a source of income for timber companies?

The Climate bill passed in the House last Friday. It might not be only a new era in fighting climate change, but also the first time when it is worthwhile to keep trees alive instead of cutting them down.

The Huffington Post reported last Friday that trees will be part of the credits scheme that is presented in the bill, and this time it means not only reforestation projects, but also protection of existing forestlands.

The article explains the mechanism:

"Say an acre of forestland sucks up two additional metric tons of carbon after a landowner plants more trees on his land or promises to rotate the way he cuts them down so more are standing at once. If the pollution market created by the legislation is currently trading at $20 a ton, then the landowner could stand to make $40 per acre if he qualifies for the program"

The legislation, according to the article. would also extend to international forests, promising to pay some countries that agree to slow their harvesting of trees abroad. We mentioned this idea in the past (see links below) and we're definitely in favor of giving economic incentives to preserve the forests and to make it worthwhile to keep them alive, avoid logging and prevent further deforestation.

This idea was discussed in the U.N.’s Bali meeting in December last year, and though it is not approved yet, there's a good chance it will be part of the post-Kyoto protocol that will be discussed in Copenhagen in December. It also enjoys the support of many international parties, such as Prince Charles, Norway, Al Gore and Wangari Maathai.

So we should be happy as forest protection finally becomes part of the carbon market, right? well, we are but it seems that the way it was integrated in the Bill is a little bit problematic..

Well, there are of course concerns about measurement, monitoring and making sure carbon capturing is actually taking place (especially outside the U.S.), but in all these concerns are no different really from the concerns you have with every other component in the "trade" part of the cap and trade scheme under the Bill. The more significant issue here might be who is eligible to take part in it in the first place.

The article on the Huffington Post mentions that owners of large swaths of forestland, such as timber companies and large farms can benefit from it. Frank O'Donnell of the advocacy group Clean Air Watch is quoted saying "In effect, the public is going to pay polluters to plant trees. Does that really lead to a major improvement in global warming? I don't know and I'm not sure anybody knows."

The fact that the Agriculture Department, which includes the U.S. Forest Service, will oversee the domestic program and develop regulations for verifying whether a forest owner's particular tract of land is actually capturing carbon, brings up questions like will they make tree farms eligible as well and how much will they will take sustainability into account?

If eventually we'll have timber companies being paid for having single-species tree farms that have replaced highly diverse forests (you can see that in the Southeast U.S. for example), then we're very far from what the idea of forests protection was meant to achieve in the first place.

So how it can be prevented? here is just one idea - how about limiting forest protection to highly-diverse forests and/or forests that have FSC certification. I believe that these kind of restrictions can provide a better chance that this measure of forests protection will truly help fighting climate change and not just become another way for land owners to make money without making any significant impact on the environment.

What do you think? I'll be happy to hear your thoughts about it so feel free to add your comments.

More related posts:

How investors can save the forests? check out the Ethical Corporation Magazine

Al Gore and Wangari Maathai calls the U.N. General Assemby to support protection of forests

Merrill Lynch is investing in forest protection

How to deal with the growing deforestation in the Amazon rain forest?

Prince Charles wants to team up with Norway to save forests

Preserving forests to fight global warming

Yours, Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting green printing

Did you remember to pay your rainforest bill?

Prince Charles has a great idea - rich countries should pay an annual "utility bill" for the benefits given to the world by its rainforests. The Prince of Wales was presenting this idea in Indonesia while talking with the Indonesian President and his cabinet last week.

The BBC News reported that "the prince called rainforests the "world's greatest public utility". They act as an air conditioner, store fresh water and provide work, he said."

The idea is that Indonesia and the other nations with significant rainforests are stewards of the world's greatest public utility and that rich countries should pay them for their service.

The prince compares the payment for the eco-services of rainforests to paying regular utility bills for gas, water and electricity. He added that "As developed nations were the driving force behind their destruction, through a demand for products like beef, palm oil, soya and logs, they should be billed for their protection."

How exactly these payments will be made? the prince hopes that that a large part of the funds would come from bonds issued by a international body that will be funded directly by governments of developed countries. Prince Charles is very involved with efforts to save forests. Earlier this year we reported on his offer to Norwegian Prime Minister to work together on saving forests in developing countries. The offer came after Norway's announcement last December that it aimed to provide about 3 billion crowns ($541.2 million) per year to prevent deforestation in developing countries.







Also, last October he launched a new organization called Reforestation Project that calls for a new green economics that recognizes the world's rainforests are worth more alive than dead.

We definitely think the concept is right and the sooner it will be implemented the better. The only question is how realistic it is especially in the current economic environment to expect governments to voluntarily pay rainforests bills.

I am afraid that it won't work, unless it's part of a wider framework that will demand developed countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions. Only then there is going to be a greater economic incentive to act and not just a good will which is important but not sufficient to generate action these days.

You can find more information on the prince efforts on the Prince's Rainforests Project: http://www.princesrainforestsproject.org

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Plant a tree for every book you read!

Prince Charles wants to team up with Norway to save forests

Reuters reported last week on a very interesting collaboration between Prince Charles and Norway. The goal: preventing deforestation in developing countries.

The article reports that Prince Charles, who is known as the Green Prince due to its extensive support of many green issues, offered to Norwegian Prime Minister, Jens Stoltenberg to work together on saving forests in developing countries. The offer came after Norway's announcement earlier in December that it aimed to provide about 3 billion crowns ($541.2 million) per year to prevent deforestation in developing countries.

Both Prince Charles and the Norwegian government see prevention of deforestation as an effective . Prince Charles said in the past that "the world's rainforests is key to combating global warming" and Norway has said that "fighting deforestation is a quick and low-cost way to achieve cuts in greenhouse gas emissions blamed by scientists for global warming, in addition to maintaining biodiversity and securing people's livelihoods".

Prince Charles is very involved with efforts to save forests lately. Last October he launched a new organization called Reforestation Project that calls for a new green economics that recognises the world's rainforests are worth more alive than dead.

The Gurdian reported that "The Prince's Rainforests Project will bring together environmentalists, scientists and leaders from the developing world in an effort to halt mass deforestation - a bigger contributor to global warming than the world's entire transport sector, including aviation."

Norway want to see the fight in deforestation in developing countries becoming a global concern and not only a local initiative - it has said that commitments to reduce emissions from deforestation in developing nations should be included in a global climate change regime from 2012 and that it will work to develop funding and certification systems to promote the effort.

This is great news for everyone, and I hope the Norwegians and Prince Charles will succeed in their mission to prevent as much deforestation as possible. And let's not forget that some of these trees are cut down for paper, so less virgin paper used for printing books can definitely help to make Prince Charles and the Norwegians' job easier.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: plant a tree for every book you read!