As the celebratory dust of the Paris climate change summit settles, an important gap remains. The reductions in carbon pollution that nations pledged to achieve are important steps in the…
New research shows how soil carbon could be the key to protecting endangered species and reining in global emissions of greenhouse gases at the same time. Worldwide, we’re spending less…
The Paris Conference of Parties (COP) of the UNFCCC has come and gone, and all but the most cynical would agree that the outcomes were on the positive side and…
Between the landmark climate agreement signed in Paris in December 2015, Indonesia's fire and haze crisis of the late summer and early fall, and continuing adoption of zero deforestation policies…
Norway and several European Nations, along with the United Nations and the World Bank, today committed to a new initiative that takes aim at the underlying causes of deforestation in…
The Norwegian government has fulfilled its billion dollar commitment to Brazil for the South American country's success in reducing deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. In a statement issued Wednesday, Norway…
The Te Apiti wind farm in New Zealand was granted tradeable carbon offset credits when it was built in 2003/2004. Wind energy projects were popular in voluntary carbon markets in…
Part 3 of 5 of a series on palm oil financing. Part I and Part II. Note: this article draws heavily from Seymour el al 2015. Rainforest canopy seen from…
Local farmer in Indonesian New Guinea Countries poised to receive World Bank funds for achieving reductions in deforestation have insufficient safeguards for ensuring that local communities don't lose out in…
Map of REDDX countries. Only a small fraction of the $7.3 billion pledged under the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) program has actually been disbursed, find a new…
Tropical rainforest. Photos by Rhett Butler. Since 2008 Norway has been the single largest foreign donor to tropical forest conservation, putting more than 10 billion Norwegian Krone, or $1.6 billion,…
Tropical rainforest. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Governors from 13 states have pledged to reduce deforestation 80 percent by 2020 provided rich companies step forward with adequate levels of financial…
Global Forest Watch map showing forest loss in and around Tajung Puting and the Rimba Raya project area. Just over a year ago, the Indonesian government officially approved the country's…
Global carbon emissions from human activities. Eliminating deforestation, peatlands and forest degradation, and forest fires in the tropics could reduce global carbon emissions by two billion tons a year, or…
In past decade, Brazil has done the carbon equivalent of taking every car off America's roads for three years Brazil's success in reducing deforestation in the world's largest rainforest has…
Rainforest in Sumatra. Photos by Rhett Butler The U.S. government will put financial support behind an initiative that offers finance for emissions-reducing forest conservation projects. In an announcement made during…
The Democratic Republic of Congo is seeking a billion dollars for a plan to protect up to 9 million hectares of rainforests, reports the Financial Times. In a presentation given…
Papuan man in Indonesian New Guinea. Photos by Rhett A. Butler. A UN program to reduce global carbon emissions may be putting indigenous communities at risk, jeopardizing local land rights…
Cumulative deforestation and population growth. Courtesy of UNREDD Investing $30 billion a year in forest conservation — less than seven percent of the $480 billion spent annually on fossil fuels…
Rainforest near Makira in Madagascar. Technology giant Microsoft has bought the first carbon credits generated under a rainforest conservation project in Madagascar, reports Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), which organized and…
Corridors passing through the densest VCS between protected areas. a–d, Central Africa (a), western Africa (b), southeast Asia (c) and the Guiana Shield (d). Corridors are shown in white, protected…
Advocates for reduced impact logging in tropical forests often make a case that better forest management cuts carbon emissions relative to traditional forms of timber harvesting. While the argument for…
Innovation in Tropical Forest Conservation: Q&A with Corey Bradshaw Primary peat forest in Sumatra. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Much of Dr. Corey Bradshaw's work has a singular aim: to…
Deforestation in Riau Province, Indonesia. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. An ambitious plan to save the world's tropical forests by valuing them for the carbon the store may fail to…
Rainforest in Sabah. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Negotiators in Warsaw have reached formal agreement on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+), a program that aims to compensate tropical…
Tropical forest loss by country 2000-2012 The governments of Norway, Britain and the United States pledged $280 million toward a new initiative that aims to reduce emissions associated with forest…
For many concerned about climate change, Australia has suddenly become the new Canada. With the election of Tony Abbott as Prime Minister in September, the land down under has taken…
The state of the REDD+ carbon market in 2012 Logging, conversion to plantations and agriculture, and other drivers of deforestation account for roughly ten percent of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions…
Rainforest in Indonesia. Provided two to three days of training, forest communities can accurately and cost-effectively measure biomass and other data needed to assess REDD+ projects, finds a new study…
An initiative that is developing a framework for REDD+ programs at state and provincial levels gained three more members last week. The Peruvian departments of San Martin, Loreto, and Ucayali…
