may expect to see a lessening of this gap and an improvement in both the incidence
of poverty and the laxity in enforcing environmental safeguards as GDP per capita
progresses beyond a certain level (see Lomborg, op. cit., p. 177 for examples of this
in the context of particle pollution and SO 2 pollution).
In the meanwhile, it will be the best strategy to identify points of greatest
importance that need to be addressed to keep our environmental systems and natural
resource base intact in anticipation of those future levels of relative prosperity.
Some of these crucial sectors are our water resources, our forests and grasslands,
our biodiversity and wildlife habitats, our marine resources and coastlands, our
wetlands (especially mangroves), our catchment areas in the hills, and our urban air
quality. While we need to accelerate our development process, we also need to
ensure grater participation in the fruits of that development, by rapidly improving
public education and public health, communications and transport facilities, raising
skill levels and employability, minimizing displacement of people and ensuring
proper rehabilitation where displacement is unavoidable, just as with diversion of
natural habitats.
3 Forest Carbon Sequestration (CDM-AR, REDD)
and Climate Change
These principles are well exemplified in our experience with the AR component
(Afforestation and Reforestation) of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and
now REDD and REDD-Plus. The basic concept of REDD (Reduction of Emissions
from Deforestation and Degradation) is simple enough (Dilip Kumar 2014a, b, c):
worldwide, this is supposed to be the second largest source, contributing 12–20 % of
GHG emissions, posing both a threat to world climate, and an opportunity, because
growing trees absorb CO 2 and hence can be a significant low-cost, universally
applicable mitigation device. Afforestation and reforestation (A&R) as a route to
carbon mitigation were first introduced in UNFCCC CoP-3 (1997) under the Clean
Development Mechanism (CDM). In 2005, at CoP-11, Reducing Emissions from
Deforestation (RED) was introduced, and the concept later enhanced by adding forest
Degradation (REDD). This was further expanded to REDD-Plus in the CoP-13 at
Bali in 2007, by adding elements of forest conservation and sustainable forest
management as devices for mitigating carbon emissions, giving rise to the expectation, among developing, tropical countries, that they would be paid for the carbon
sequestered in trees and forests by sacrificing short-term benefits.
The CDM-AR component was at one time touted as the great new mechanism for
carbon sequestration, and detailed and laboriously drafted guidelines and rules were
put up on the UNFCCC websites (e.g. UNFCCC 2013). But, these guidelines and
procedures were so involved that very few projects were actually approved:
according to an online article on the Forest Carbon Asia website (Chokkalingam and
Vanniarachchy 2014), by May 2011, there were only 22 registered CDM-AR
34
P.J. Dilip Kumar
of poverty and the laxity in enforcing environmental safeguards as GDP per capita
progresses beyond a certain level (see Lomborg, op. cit., p. 177 for examples of this
in the context of particle pollution and SO 2 pollution).
In the meanwhile, it will be the best strategy to identify points of greatest
importance that need to be addressed to keep our environmental systems and natural
resource base intact in anticipation of those future levels of relative prosperity.
Some of these crucial sectors are our water resources, our forests and grasslands,
our biodiversity and wildlife habitats, our marine resources and coastlands, our
wetlands (especially mangroves), our catchment areas in the hills, and our urban air
quality. While we need to accelerate our development process, we also need to
ensure grater participation in the fruits of that development, by rapidly improving
public education and public health, communications and transport facilities, raising
skill levels and employability, minimizing displacement of people and ensuring
proper rehabilitation where displacement is unavoidable, just as with diversion of
natural habitats.
3 Forest Carbon Sequestration (CDM-AR, REDD)
and Climate Change
These principles are well exemplified in our experience with the AR component
(Afforestation and Reforestation) of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and
now REDD and REDD-Plus. The basic concept of REDD (Reduction of Emissions
from Deforestation and Degradation) is simple enough (Dilip Kumar 2014a, b, c):
worldwide, this is supposed to be the second largest source, contributing 12–20 % of
GHG emissions, posing both a threat to world climate, and an opportunity, because
growing trees absorb CO 2 and hence can be a significant low-cost, universally
applicable mitigation device. Afforestation and reforestation (A&R) as a route to
carbon mitigation were first introduced in UNFCCC CoP-3 (1997) under the Clean
Development Mechanism (CDM). In 2005, at CoP-11, Reducing Emissions from
Deforestation (RED) was introduced, and the concept later enhanced by adding forest
Degradation (REDD). This was further expanded to REDD-Plus in the CoP-13 at
Bali in 2007, by adding elements of forest conservation and sustainable forest
management as devices for mitigating carbon emissions, giving rise to the expectation, among developing, tropical countries, that they would be paid for the carbon
sequestered in trees and forests by sacrificing short-term benefits.
The CDM-AR component was at one time touted as the great new mechanism for
carbon sequestration, and detailed and laboriously drafted guidelines and rules were
put up on the UNFCCC websites (e.g. UNFCCC 2013). But, these guidelines and
procedures were so involved that very few projects were actually approved:
according to an online article on the Forest Carbon Asia website (Chokkalingam and
Vanniarachchy 2014), by May 2011, there were only 22 registered CDM-AR
34
P.J. Dilip Kumar