| Indonesian avoided deforestation project certified for carbon credits | | Print | |
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A project to conserve tropical forests in the Indonesian province of Aceh today became the first to be certified by an international standard, sparking buying interest for the 3.4 million carbon credits the project can generate annually. A collaboration between Aceh’s local government, forest conservation group Fauna & Flora International, and Carbon Conservation aims to sell carbon credits for the greenhouse gas emissions reduced by conservation of the Ulu Masen forest ecosystem, an unprotected fragment of rainforest in Sumatra. The project was certified by the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA), an international validator that ensures land use projects mitigate climate change and deliver community and biodiversity benefits. Although emissions reduction credits generated from avoided deforestation may not be used for compliance to Kyoto protocol targets under the treaty’s clean development mechanism, CCBA’s Joanna Durbin said there is already interest from the voluntary carbon market. “Certainly for now the main buyers of credits will be in the voluntary market,” Durbin told Point Carbon. She added that she was asked by potential buyers when avoided deforestation project credits would become available during a voluntary carbon market conference in New York yesterday. Pointing out that agreements reached at December’s UN climate summit in Bali outlined greater support for including avoided deforestation credits in a future climate regime, Durbin said such credits are “almost certain” to be part of a post-2012 carbon market. “Knowledge is increasing that deforestation accounts for at least 20 per cent of global emissions reductions, and the role of forest conservation is being taken into greater consideration at the policy level,” she argued. Dorjee Sun, CEO of project partner Carbon Conservation, said his group will work with financial management firm Merrill Lynch on the credit monetisation strategy for the offsets generated by the project. Indonesia is among the world’s four highest greenhouse gas emitters if the effects of land use change and deforestation are counted, according to the World Resources Institute, whose data show the country emitting nearly 3 billion tonnes carbon dioxide (CO2) with the effects of deforestation included. Not including land use change and forestry emissions, the country ranks among the world’s 20 highest emitters at around 300 million tonnes CO2 per year. Washington DC |