Land use change

Oil giant's investment in Indonesian REDD conservation project is a crude attempt to increase profit and gloss over its expanding oil drilling operations, say campaigners

A report published by the World Agroforestry Centre (CGIAR) has announced that one third of Indonesia’s greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation actually come from areas which are not officially designated as “forest”. This has led to concern over the success of the UN’s Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) project if carbon output is not being measured throughout the entire country.

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.

Leading up to next week’s round of international climate change negotiations in Bonn, Germany, a coalition that includes Environmental Defense Fund today presented to the United Nations its proposals to properly account for land management activities that add or remove carbon in the atmosphere.

A new policy to develop oil palm on degraded land could protect Indonesia’s forests. But what does “degraded” really mean?