Carbon trading could protect forests, reduce rural poverty
Carbon trading from avoided deforestation (REDD) credits could yield billions of dollars for tropical countries, according to analysis by mongabay.com, a leading tropical forest web site.
Using conservative estimates for carbon storage in tropical forests for 63 countries, mongabay.com estimates that reducing deforestation by 10 percent would generate $767 million to $4.6 billion per year at carbon prices ranging from $5-30 per ton of CO2 [tCO2e]. For comparison, the EU's ETS market for carbon credits is presently around $32/tCO2e. A 20 percent reduction would generate $1.5 to 9.2 billion, while a 50 percent reduction would yield $3.8 to 23 billion annually.
The figures show the proceeds from REDD carbon credits would dwarf the $1.1 billion in international funding for forestry spent annually over the past decade and could offer developing countries a way to diversify earnings in their forestry sector while at the same time safeguarding important ecosystem services — like watershed protection and biodiversity conservation — and forest option values.
