A hard-hitting report published today criticises the stance taken by the World Bank, leading nations and green groups in tackling carbon emissions from global deforestation.
NGO World Growth’s report says the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation in Developing Countries (REDD) scheme, supported by the World Bank, WWF and Greenpeace, is “severely flawed”.
The scheme, the report says, would reduce carbon emissions by 3.9 gigatonnes. An alternative strategy of improved forest management and afforestation, it says, would absorb more – 9.9 gigatonnes.
World Growth claims the World Bank’s stance, including its plans for a Forest Carbon Partnership Facility to pay developing countries not to cut down their forests, were for “political and technical” reasons and resulted in a “form of green global welfare”.
It accuses WWF and Greenpeace as using the campaign to halt global warming as a complementary vehicle to “advance their strategy to restrict commercial forestry.”
The report also questions the methodology used to calculate the level of carbon emissions from deforestation (20% of all global emissions).
World Growth says REDD does not deserve to be formally adopted until afforestation and reforestation is recognised as an equal or superior forestry climate change mitigation strategy.
It is also calling for finance to help developing countries create full forest inventories and the infrastructure necessary to support sustainable commercial forestry.
