In the REDD: A Conservative Approach to Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation

One of the key questions for consideration in December in Copenhagen will be whether to include Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) in developing countries as an internationally regulated activity. REDD involves payments to developing countries for reducing their deforestation rates below an historical or projected reference rate (the “baseline”). These payments could take the form of “carbon credits” sold in a post-Kyoto carbon market to developed countries struggling to meet their emissions reduction targets. The payments are designed to be an incentive for developing countries to regulate and reduce deforestation and its associated emissions. This paper critiques the recent Australian proposal for REDD in relation to other proposals and analyses the problems with REDD credits. It argues that REDD would make its greatest contribution to international regulation of GHG emissions if supported by an international fund rather than a carbon market.