Waiting for Barack: REDD and LULUCF Talks Run into the Night

With US President Barack Obama presumably en route to Copenhagen, REDD negotiators appear close to creating language that explicitly calls for market-based carbon offsets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in the developing world, as well as a provision for incorporating the value of ecosystem services into environmental safeguards on REDD projects.

17 December 2009 | It’s been a busy few days here at COP 15, and we’ve been keeping track of negotiations on how to deal with reduced greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in the developing world (REDD).   The actual text was still being marked up when we slipped out of the Bella Center to catch the last train to Lund, but it looks like the presidents, prime ministers, and dictators who tear into this stuff on Friday will find themselves presented with REDD language that explicitly calls for REDD-based carbon offsets (something that was lacking in the most recent official text).

There’s also a provision for making sure that the value of REDD credits is – at the very least – diminished if the REDD project messes up other ecosystem services.

You’ll find the whole story and more here.

US Offers $1 Billion for REDD

On Wednesday, cloistered several metro stops away from the chaotic Bella Center, the non-profit Avoided Deforestation Partners hosted a line up panels bursting with big names in the forestry and climate world. Presenters including Thomas Friedman moderating an unexpected mix, as Kate Hamilton reports here.

The Copenhagen Prediction Market

Got predictions on the outcome of COP15? Are you ready to put your (experimental) money where your mouth is? If yes, drop your thoughts in The Copenhagen Prediction Market. During the COP15 conference, the Centre for Energy and Environmental Markets (CEEM) with sponsorship, as Kate Hamilton reports here.

Mapping REDD Risks and Rewards: the Forest Carbon Index

A picture is worth a thousand words, and Resources for the Future’s (RFF) new Forest Carbon Index (FCI) uses interactive maps to tell a visual story of forest carbon’s global investment potential. Pretty useful stuff, considering that forest carbon’s profit potential, stocks and policy hurdles are – like forest resources themselves – entirely place-based.   Molly Stanley-Peters reports here.