LULUCF in 2011 - Guest Commentary in Point Carbon
--the following appeared as a guest commentary in Carbon Market Europe, Thomson Reuters Point Carbon on February 25, 2011--
Closing the deal on forest accounting
By Chris Henschel, national manager of boreal conservation, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society
Mark it on your calendar: the UN climate change conference in South Africa this December will deliver an agreement on the accountability of industrialised countries for their emissions from forest management and other land uses (LULUCF).
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Govt: `Forest investors` grabbing villagers` land
The government yesterday expressed concern over the increasing wave of investors illegally buying large chunks of land from villagers for forest farming and management, apparently to engage in carbon trade.
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What forestry can do for climate change policy
Growing trees is nature’s way of absorbing carbon from the atmosphere. So most would assume that the forest industry would be front and centre of the government’s climate change policy. They’d be wrong.
The government’s carbon price to be introduced from July 2012 will rightly focus on the big emitters but will provide next to no incentives for growth in Australia’s sustainable forest industry – which absorbs and stores carbon from the atmosphere.
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Carbon storage and forest fire influences in tropical rainforests
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IETA Launches Publication Series and Two New Papers on REDD+
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Kenyans Soft-Launch New Carbon Exchange
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ERA Announces Signing of a 17.5 Million Tonne Carbon Offset Agreement With the Democratic Republic of Congo
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Revealed: scandal of carbon credit firm A SYDNEY carbon credits company thought to have been running some of the world's biggest offsets deals appears to be a fake, shifting paper certificates instead of saving forests and cutting greenhouse emissions.
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First Tasmanian Projects Validated
Redd Forests, the Australian based carbon project developer, has achieved validation of its Tasmanian Improved Forestry Management projects, the first such projects in the world.
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EU plans to link emissions trading scheme with California
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The Climate Standoff Simplified
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Counting up the carbon capturedRedd Forests, a little company 20 per cent-owned by the Kathmandu founder Jan Cameron, is proving that threatened native forest in Tasmania can have more value standing than if it was logged, by generating carbon credits from it.
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Swiss water firm taps Kenya’s carbon market
A Swiss water treatment firm is seeking a piece of Kenya’s carbon market through distribution of water purifiers to reduce the use of firewood and kerosene for water treatment in western Kenya.
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East Asia Minerals announces acquisition of 50% of Carbon Conservation Pty Ltd.
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United Nations rallies private sector for forestry protection investmentMerrill Lynch chief says REDD scheme investors face risks equivalent to "emerging markets squared"
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Forests May Spur Financial Rewards, Curb Climate Change, UN Says
The world’s forests may spur financial rewards and risk management opportunities as a way to curb climate change, according to the United Nations.
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World Bank eyes new post-2012 CDM facility - Point Carbon
(Published by Thomson Reuters Point Carbon)
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Kenyan firms to tap new IFC carbon fund
Kenyan companies investing in carbon trading projects are set to benefit from a new fund set up by IFC to cover a financing gap arising from the European Union’s decision to stop buying carbon credits from developing countries beginning next year.
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New Ruling Puts California’s Cap and Trade on Permanent Hold
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Carbon offset provider Carbonica in partnership with REDDMontt Forestry in Chile
UK-based carbon trading and carbon offset company Carbonica will generate VCS REDD and reforestation carbon credits in Chile
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets 2011
For five years, Forest Trends’ Ecosystem Marketplace and Bloomberg New Energy Finance have published the State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets Reports to shed light on trading volumes, credit prices, project types, locations, and the motivations of buyers in this market. Every year’s marketplace seems more complex than the one before, as actors continually refine their programs, businesses, and investments in search of a more perfect future – for their projects and the planet.
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Voluntary carbon market climbs on trees
The voluntary carbon market climbed to record volumes of emissions reductions last year, bouncing back from worldwide recession on the back of corporate social responsibility demand and the rise of forest-based offset supply. This picture emerges from the State and Trends of the Voluntary Carbon Markets 2010, published this week by Ecosystem Marketplace and Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
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Carbon investors turn to forestry
At an Environmental Finance conference this month, financers signalled strong interest to invest in forest carbon projects. Given that imminent investment is needed, how close are we to a framework that propels financers to back forestry?
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New global carbon map for 2.5 billion ha of forests
Tropical forests across Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia stored 247 gigatons of carbon — more than 30 years' worth of current emissions from fossil fuels use — in the early 2000s, according to a comprehensive assessment of the world's carbon stocks.
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World Bank warns of 'failing' international carbon market
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Growth in Global Carbon Market Pauses Amid Uncertainty
World Bank Releases 2011 "State and Trends of the Carbon Market" Report
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Forestry Key to Africa’s Carbon Permit Market, Envirotrade Says
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World Bank Prototype Carbon Fund Syndicate Agreement Extended Through 2023
The World Bank’s Prototype Carbon Fund extended an agreement until as late as 2023 to help govern the syndicate including six governments and 16 companies.
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World Bank Blamed for Fuelling Climate Chaos
BONN (IDN) - Reflecting profound concerns of developing countries, a new report has strongly criticised the World Bank group for promoting false solutions to climate change, such as carbon trading, megadams, agrofuels and industrial monoculture tree plantations.
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North America's largest forest carbon project launches, sells $4-million in credits
The Nature Conservancy of Canada is receiving more than $4-million in what it says is the largest forest carbon project to date in North America and the first deal of its kind in Canada.
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Philippine forest project gets carbon credits
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Bolivia Criticizes Market Mechanisms in the Cancún Agreement and REDD
Bonn, Germany – On Monday, a two-week long round of UN climate negotiations, lasting from June 6 to June 17, 2011, kicked off in Bonn, Germany. The talks will prepare for the way for the COP 17, which takes place November 28, 2011 to December 9, 2011 in Durban, South Africa.
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Deforestation Credits Achieving Premium Prices, CF Partners Says
Carbon credits from projects to halt deforestation can achieve “premium prices” compared with other types of voluntary offsets as demand is set to quadruple in the next three years, according to CF Partners.
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Trees for crops 'will not halt warming' PARIS: Schemes to convert croplands, or marginal lands, to forests will make almost no inroads on global warming this century, a new scientific study says.
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PG&E carbon offsets come from protected forests
California's largest utility promises its customers green salvation through its ClimateSmart program.
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A PROPOSAL to keep Tasmania's native forests standing in exchange for billions in carbon credits has been rejected by the State Government, Liberal Opposition and Forestry Tasmania.
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Japan solicits ‘REDD+’ projects under bilateral scheme
Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (Meti) said on Monday that it has begun to solicit avoided deforestation, as well as other projects aimed at reducing non-energy related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, under a bilateral offset mechanism.
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Ahead of meeting, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) loses another supporter
The forest organization, FERN, has pulled its support from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), reports FSC-Watch. FERN has quit the increasingly troubled organization due to FSC pursuing carbon credits through forestry. The FSC loses FERN just weeks before its 6th General Assembly, in which FSC partners—including private corporations and some environmental groups—will meet to debate current practices.
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Macquarie, IFC agree forest carbon investment fund(Reuters) - Australia's Macquarie Group , World Bank member the International Finance Corp and a forest management firm said on Thursday they had raised $25 million for forest carbon projects in poorer nations.
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World Bank: Registering UN forestry projects is too complexThe World Bank has warned that the complicated processes that afforestation and reforestation projects have to adhere to in order to qualify for the UN's planned forest-based carbon trading system could stifle growth for the embryonic sector.
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First Growth Commences Carbon Projects in West Papua Indonesia Breaking News www.theindonesiatoday.comTheindonesiatoday.com - First Growth Funds Limited group reports its joint venture with Greencollar Group (GCS), First Growth Forests (FGFJV), has commenced the world’s first program to develop forestry carbon projects for the whole of a province in West Papua.
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Der Wald als CO2-"Staubsauger"Der Wald ist ein deutlich größerer CO2-Speicher als bisher angenommen. Zwischen 1990 und 2007 hat er aktuellen Berechnungen zufolge rund ein Drittel des Kohlenstoffs, der in dieser Zeit durch die Verwendung fossiler Brennstoffe freigesetzt wurde, geschluckt.
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A Large and Persistent Carbon Sink in the World’s ForestsYude Pan, Richard A. Birdsey, Jingyun Fang, Richard Houghton, Pekka E. Kauppi, Werner A. Kurz, Oliver L. Phillips, Anatoly Shvidenko, Simon L. Lewis, Josep G. Canadell, Philippe Ciais, Robert B. Jackson, Stephen Pacala, A.
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Workshop to determine land eligibility for project development under Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of UNFCCC and Voluntary Carbon Standards (VCS)The workshop to determine land eligibility for project development under Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of UNFCCC and Voluntary Carbon Standards (VCS) will be held at the Park Hotel, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India on August 11, 2011.
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Concern Over Stalled Forest Carbon ProjectNearly a year after an agreement involving the Federal Government and a duo of environmental management firms was finalised, fears are being expressed over the prospects of the accord, which appears to be mired.
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Rubber tree should not only be for latex but for carbon trading too!Precise decision-making, safety and comfort are essential terms in modern day life and those would greatly be contributed by natural rubber. It decides the birth, provides a shield against deadly diseases and also joy in the life.
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Forests soak up third of fossil fuel emissions: studyARIS — Forests play a larger role in Earth's climate system than previously suspected for both the risks from deforestation and the potential gains from regrowth, a benchmark study released Thursday has shown.
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Peru's jungle city of Iquitos - first established on the myth of a land of lost gold and once a mecca for 19th century rubber barons - has long been frequented by profiteers.
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Apex launch The Africasia FundsThe Funds will invest in agricultural, renewable energy plantations and forestry businesses, with a fundamental principal of owning the core assets through the funds with the management of all operations carried out by established operators in the region.
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Carbon credit firm collapses amid tax debate A company that specialises in forestry carbon credit projects in Asia, the Pacific Islands and Australia has collapsed.
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Kibale National Park rehabilitation projectLocated in southwest Uganda, the Kibale National Park (KNP) is one of the last remaining tropical forest blocks in the country. It harbours the greatest variety and concentration of primates found anywhere in East Africa and is home to at least 350 tree species. Despite the park’s ecological value, deforestation and historic consumptive use of the park have contributed to significant deterioration of KNP’s forest and its biodiversity over the past 30 years.
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Hypothetical offsets may not really be there
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Japan revises its forest law to boost carbon sequestrationJapan has brought about changes in its Forests and Forestry Basic Plan under Forests Act (1964) with specific focus on carbon sequestration.
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The Anatomy of the CER Price Melt DownSome 6 weeks ago the price of a CER (certified emission reduction created from reducing greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries using the CDM or clean development mechanism of the kyoto protocol) was 13 Euro and the emissions markets were looking healthy.
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UK announces certification standard for forest carbon storage projects The UK government has announced new scheme to assess the carbon captured and stored by forest projects initiated for carbon sequestration.
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A Slow Start for the for Carbon Credit MarketWASHINGTON — As U.N. talks keep failing to agree how to raise money to protect forests, private investors are testing a trade in credits to slow the deforestation that emits as much carbon as all the world’s cars, ships, trucks and planes.
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Women Grow Carbon Money on TreesKATHMANDU, Jul 4, 2011 (IPS) - When Bina Tamang was told that she could earn money by not felling trees in the tiny forest that serves as the source of fuel and fodder for 65 families in her area, the 27-year-old was incredulous.
That was two years ago. In June, when Tamang was informed that she and over 100 other groups like hers, that have been sharing forests as community property, had been awarded cash incentives worth 95,000 US dollars disbelief gave way to joy.
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The Omens of Offsetting Linger on REDDAs the number of public sector financial mechanisms targeting REDD+ has increased, and consequently the volume of money flowing in to REDD+, observers are increasingly pointing out that the public sector alone cannot supply the huge sums
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FSA warning over carbon credit trading schemes
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Government approves carbon accreditation schemeIn a UK first the British government has approved a carbon accreditation scheme set up to recognise business' efforts to capture and store carbon.
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International Forest Carbon Association (IFCA)Carbon Positive is involved with a number of participants in the forest carbon sector to establish a representative organisation, the International Forest Carbon Association (IFCA).
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UN registers Himachal's carbon trading schemeNew Delhi: Himachal Pradesh's efforts in fighting climate change have been rewarded with the UN registering its multi-crore carbon trading scheme that involves providing green cover to barren 4,000 hectares in the state.
Under this scheme, over 5000 families from remote and backward villages will receive carbon revenue for the next 20 years from the World Bank for providing green cover to several areas in across 10 districts which were declared deforested before 1990.
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New Investments Portal Raises Carbon Credits Alert to Code
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End logging to cut carbon: studyAustralia could meet almost half of its 5 per cent greenhouse reduction target by ending logging of native forests, according to a new economic study.
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Japan favours REDD in latest offset funding awardsFour of the five offset pilot projects selected to receive Japanese government funding on Tuesday aim to curb deforestation (REDD) abroad, according to an official statement.
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CM KPK approves lease of land for forestation purposesPESHAWAR: Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Ameer Haider Khan Hoti has approved the leasing out of land for project for reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation of forests (REDD) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
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Dirk Brinkman has been selling trees since 1970, before carbon had anything to do with it.
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Carbon Development AssociateWildlife Works Carbon LLC (WWC) is an innovative start‐up company headquartered in San Francisco, CA, USA that engages with the global carbon market to enhance conservation in tropical countries.
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‘Silly Fool’ Sells NZU at $20, buys back CER at $13.50 and pockets $65,000Back in March 2011 a Carbon Monitor reader wrote to us with the quandary of what to do with his post 1989 NZU units (those with a surrender liability for loss or harvest) suggesting if he took the funds, invested in real estate then he would be ahead even with a future liability.
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Wildlife Works Launches New Facebook Store to Market Carbon Offsets and Casual ApparelWildlife Works announced today the launch of a new retail model that uses the power of Facebook to enable consumers to offset their travel, home and personal lifestyle events that contribute to global warming.
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Workshop to determine land eligibility for CDM and VCS project development in IndiaAfforestation and Reforestation (AR) projects under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) have faced various challenges, one of the key ones being the issue of ‘land eligibility’.
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Effectiveness and legitimacy of forest carbon standards in the OTC voluntary carbon marketIn recent years, the voluntary over-the-counter (OTC) carbon market has reached a significant market volume.
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Devil in detail of carbon farming planLABOR'S carbon farming initiative (CFI) has passed in the Senate but agricultural groups remain sceptical of its worth until details are made available.
Under the scheme, graziers could sell carbon credits on to businesses to offset emissions.
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Is Forest Carbon Just Another Commodity?As already discussed on Climatico, using REDD+ as a private sector offsetting mechanism runs the risk of creating perverse incentives, exposing la
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Australia passes national carbon trading scheme for agriculture, forestry
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Tropical forest CO2 fertilisation: self-mitigation of emissions possibly around 15 percentIn which case increased tropical forest density would sort of average out emissions of tropical deforestation. [Is it just us or do you share the feeling something is uncomfortably unsustainable about that comparison?]
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Neglected CO2-source detectedFor the first time, ETH-Zurich researchers provide concrete data on how alternative forms of land use influence the carbon balance in tropical ecosystems.
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Kigoma to Earn On Forest ConservationCOMMUNITIES in seven villages of Kigoma Rural district will early next year start earning money for protecting Masito-Ugalla forest reserve, which climate change scientists say is helping in the absorption of carbon dioxide and controlling global warming.
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First VCS forest project in Sabah, Borneo registeredFirst tropical Improved Forest Management project, enabling revenue generation from forest rehabilitation.
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Colgate enters into agreement to offset carbon emissions
HAMILTON —
As part of its aggressive push to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and advance sustainability, Colgate has signed a 15-year commitment with Patagonia Sur to purchase forestry-based carbon offsets. Under the agreement, a total of 225,000 native-species trees will be planted on 430 acres of land in Chile’s Aysén Region of Patagonia.
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The REDD Market Should Not End Up a Subprime House of Cards: Introducing a New REDD Architecture for Environmental Integrity
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Rimba Raya debacle casts pall over Indonesian REDDThe world has eagerly watched as Indonesia pilots public and private investments to curb the country’s massive forest losses while still meeting economic development goals. But conflicting interests between the nation’s leadership turned ugly last month when a leading forest conservation project
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Old growths remove 2.4 billion tonnes of carbon per yearThe report, funded by the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO, has also found deforestation emits more carbon emissions than previously thought—a staggering 2.9 billion tonnes of CO2 per year
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‘Serious’ Error Found in Carbon Savings for BiofuelsThe European Union is overestimating the reductions in greenhouse gas emissions achieved through reliance on biofuels as a result of a “serious accounting error,” according to a draft opinion by an influential committee of 19 scientists and academics.
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World Bank won't give up on carbon markets
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Norway releases US$1.1M to Guyana outside GRIFNorway has released US$1.1M to Guyana outside of the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund (GRIF) – the agreed mechanism for the disbursement of funds under the two countries forests’ agreement – in order to enable Guyana to meet its contractual obligations under the partnership.
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Forest carbon sinks usher development opportunities in ChinaIn May, Jia Zhibang of the State Forestry Bureau said that China also hoping to increase the forest carbon sinks up to 416 million tons of Carbon by 2020.
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Congo businessman blazes carbon-market trail for AfricaIBI, Democratic Republic of Congo (AlertNet) - A Congolese businessman has become the first private investor in Africa to win approval to sell carbon credits earned from restoring tropical rainforest on the Kyoto Protocol’s carbon market.
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The Emerging Market for Forest and Land-Use CarbonThis report was prepared by Terra Global Investment Management, LLC the investment manager of the Terra Bella Forest and Land-Use Carbon Fund, a Luxembourg SIF-SICAV currently in structuring and capital raising.
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Forest carbon markets grow, despite uncertaintyA surge in activity around projects that reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) has helped boost the value of the forest carbon markets – despite lingering uncertainty about their future, according to a survey.
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Japan earmarks P5-B forestland loanThe Japanese government has earmarked the appropriation of an estimated Y9.244 billion, or approximately P5.084 billion, to strengthen forestland management in the Philippines.
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State of Forest Carbon Markets 2011 This second annual State of the Forest Carbon Markets tracks, reports, and analyzes trends in global transac
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Carbon markets look to the Amazon for offsets
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Allianz takes 10% stake in REDD developerGerman insurance giant Allianz has invested an undisclosed sum in Wildlife Works Carbon, a US-based developer of projects that reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD).
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Ecuador: Threats From Carbon Market Ecuador’s participation in the global carbon market has generated complications in indigenous peoples and Afro-Ecuadorian communities, which have not only seen cutbacks in their rights to use land for ancestral activities, but whose organizations have also undergone fracturing due to the governme
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Japan approves 4 forestry CDM projects(1)
Host country: Nicaragua
Project Name: South CDM reforestation project in Nicaragua
Activities Summary: reforestation of native species to the former pasture has declined by over-harvesting (area: 813ha)
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Japan selects new batch of bilateral offset projectsJapan’s Environment Ministry said on Thursday that it has adopted 29 carbon projects under a bilateral offset mechanism, as part of nation’s efforts to achieve its climate goal to cut emissions.
The projects were selected from among 77 proposals made between April 28 and May 26 and cover such areas as waste management, transport, energy savings and avoided deforestation and degradation, the ministry said in a statement.
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Carbon offset projects ‘having positive impact’ The carbon offset projects being undertaken in Tanzania by a Norwegian company, Green Resources ASA (GRAS), have begun to make remarkable progress in addressing the challenge of climate change and contributing significantly to national poverty alleviation efforts.
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Carbon rights in REDD+: Exploring the implications for poor and vulnerable peopleOne of the key questions that has arisen in the context of the REDD+ debate surrounds which actors have the right to exploit the benefits of GHG emissions reductions and removals in REDD+, and the associated rights to international payments.
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