According to a July 4th article in The Guardian, the global carbon offset scheme that will create an estimated $10 billion per year by 2020 is seriously threatened by corruption. Under the United Nations Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD), 37 countries have requested over $14 billion by 2015 as compensation for cutting emissions from forestry activities such as logging. However, national forestry reform plans already submitted to the World Bank by the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guyana, and Indonesia, among others, demonstrate intentions to continue “logging as usual”, including by opening 25 million hectares of new forest concessions, building roads and dams in densely forested areas, and converting forests to palm oil plantations. Environmental groups such as Global Witness (which Natural Justice associate Peter Wood works for) “fear that REDD is being used by governments to victimise and steal the carbon rights of people who live and depend on the forests.” The full article can be read here.
