The Minister of Environment, Mr. John Odey, has said that the Federal Government is fast- tracking the implementation of sound policies to promote the development of green energy projects.

What do bone fragments, cow patties and banana peels have in common? They all help gardens grow. When processed into a charcoal-like substance called biochar instead of being burned directly for fuel, researchers say organic materials could offset as much as 12 percent of the world's greenhouse gases.

Indonesia hopes to renegotiate its US$1 billion deal with Norway on reducing carbon emissions by curbing deforestation, hoping Norway will accept tree planting as an eligible part of the program.

“We hope REDD+ activities could be applied in the Indonesia-Norway climate deal,” Hadi Daryanto, director general of forest production at the Forestry Ministry, told The Jakarta Post Saturday.

The Australian government is proposing to allow foresters and farmers to create carbon offset credits for international sale into foreign emissions trading markets. Prime Minister Julia Gillard launched the policy on the weekend, part of campaigning ahead of a federal election on August 21.

ST. LOUIS, Mo., Aug. 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- There is no doubt that solid strip oak floors are still the overwhelming preference for most homeowners in the United States, and the reason is clear. Wood floors offer the most environmentally friendly flooring option available on the market. But wood floors are much more than just another green product; they also can be beautiful works of art.

British development finance institution, CDC (www.cdcgroup.com) has committed US$50 million to the GEF Africa Sustainable Forestry Fund (GASFF), the first private equity fund to focus solely on sustainable forestry in sub-Saharan Africa. The fund is to be run by the investment team of Global Environment Fund (GEF) which has a long history of investing in sectors that make a positive impact on the environment and quality of life.

The US and Brazil have signed an agreement whereby US$21 million (£13.5 million) of Brazilian debt will be put into a fund for the protection of the country’s rainforest and tropical ecosystems.

The US has agreed that instead of paying back its debt, the money will be utilised to protect the Caatinga and Cerrado ecosystems and conserve the rainforest on the Atlantic coast. These three areas in Brazil are currently under threat of serious deforestation but do not receive as much attention or publicity as the Amazon region.

LONDON, Aug. 12, 2010 (RISI) - This week the Chinese government, following up on an announcement made on May 27 of this year, released a final list of 279 pulp and paper mills at which capacity is to be removed as part of its broader program of closing small, inefficient manufacturing operations across many industries that pose problems with respect to high levels of pollution or energy consumption.

I think we would all agree that it is a disappointment that the US Senate didn't take up a climate bill that included a cap and trade system to finally put a price on carbon and begin reducing emissions.

The UN-REDD Programme has been active over the past few months, in convening and engaging with partners from around in the world to advance ideas and common understandings of governance issues related to REDD+.

The American Carbon Registry (ACR), a non-profit enterprise of Winrock International, welcomes feedback from its members, project proponents and other interested parties on the ACR Methodology for REDD – Avoiding Planned Deforestation. 

This methodology is applicable only to the REDD sub-category Avoiding Planned Deforestation (APD). Separate forthcoming methodologies will address unplanned deforestation and forest degradation.

Three documents are posted for review and comment:

Foreign-owned "carbon foresters" have ambitions to turn a fifth of New Zealand sheep and beef farmland into forests and that will devastate many rural towns, the national farmers' lobby says.

Federated Farmers president Don Nicolson said the organisation strongly believed that farm forestry was integral to farms where suited. This made the government's axing of the Afforestation Grants Scheme (AGS) in preference to the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) "incredibly perplexing".

Tucked away on the bottom of the world, New Zealand is showing bigger developed nations how its done when it comes to tackling greenhouse-gas emissions and climate change. The first jurisdiction outside Europe to take the plunge on a nation-wide mandatory carbon pricing scheme, New Zealand has gone a long way to tackling the political and economic challenges of fundamental low-carbon reform that have bedevilled the US, Canada, Japan and Australia.

You report that "a British company's proposal to rent out one-fifth of Liberia's forests for carbon offsetting could have bankrupted the impoverished west African state" (UK firm's carbon offset deal 'could have bankrupted Liberia', 24 July). While this was certainly accurate reporting, it also missed a vital point – that this marks a vital step forward for Liberia.