Stopping deforestation could net Burma $1 billion
mongabay.com
November 6, 2006



Its status as a pariah state aside, Burma could earn hundreds of millions of dollars for cutting its deforestation rate under a carbon-trading initiative proposed by a coalition of developing countries and under discussion this week at U.N. climate talks in Nairobi, Kenya.

Burma, which is also known as Myanmar, has one of the highest deforestation rates in the world. Each year some 466,000 hectares of forest cleared are per year, according to U.N. data, contributing 32-93 megatons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Under a proposed carbon finance initiative, mitigating these emissions could be worth anywhere from $128 million to over a $1.8 billion to industrialized countries.

The way it would work is though the adoption of an "avoided deforestation" strategy to addressing carbon trading. By reducing deforestation that would otherwise occur in developing countries, industrialized countries could effectively "offset" emissions limits set under international agreements like the Kyoto Protocol. Money from industrialized countries would flow into forest conservation fund that Burma could drawn upon depending on its success in reducing its deforestation rate. The strategy could help fight climate change at a low cost while, at the same time improving living standards for some of the world's poorest people, safeguarding biodiversity, and preserving other ecosystem services.

Carbon finance could boost per capita GDP in Burma from 5-20 percent.

This paper is based on an earlier mongabay.com article: Avoided deforestation could help fight third world poverty under global warming pact








Recommend this article? Comments?
Digg this article | Hugg this article | Contact

News options



News index | RSS | Add to MyYahoo!


Advertisements:


Organic Apparel from Patagonia | Insect-repelling clothing


MONGABAY.COM
Mongabay.com seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics, and finance on conservation and development (more)

CONTENTS
Rainforests
Tropical Fish
News
Madagascar
Pictures
Kids' Site
Languages
Blog
Forum
Newsletter
About
Contact
Archives
Interns
Help


 
SUPPORT
Help support mongabay.com when you buy from Amazon.com



POPULAR PAGES
Rainforests
Rain forests
Amazon deforestation
Deforestation
Deforestation stats
Why rainforests matter
Saving rainforests
Deforestation stats
Rainforest canopy

News
Most popular
Worth saving?
Forest conservation
Earth Day
Poverty alleviation
Cell phones in Africa
Seniors helping Africa
Oil palm in rainforests
Extinction debate
Extinction crisis
Extinction debate
Palm Oil
Borneo
Orangutans in Borneo

News topics
Amazon
Biofuels
Brazil
Carbon Finance
Climate change
Deforestation
Energy
Happy-upbeat
Interviews
Oceans
Palm oil
Rainforests
Solutions
Wildlife




T-SHIRTS

  • Madagascar Wildlife
  • Dancing lemurs
  • Don't fall asleep the sloths will eat you
  • Sucking on this frog may make you insane


    CALENDARS

  • Mount Kenya
  • East Africa Safari Wildlife
  • Kenya's Turkana People
  • Peru
  • African Wildlife
  • Alaska
  • China
  • Madagascar Chameleons


    CANVAS BAGS

  • Hallucinogenic frog bag
  • Madagascar wildlife bag







  • Copyright mongabay 2007