I am attending the Forest Carbon & REDD conference in Washington, DC. Already in the first panel the issue has arisen as to whether REDD projects should be driven by a national program or private, project-based carbon credit projects. The issue is important for several reasons. First, there is some doubt as to whether creating a national or international fund supported or managed by the United Nations or even a United States agency would be efficient, could be established and become active within a few years, and whether it would in fact be effective at all. Second, there is a need in many people's view that private sector investment in order to sell or utilize the carbon credits for the private party's own compliance account. The current proposal in the Waxman-Markey bill, H.R. 2454, would phase out the private, project-based process for international credits (outside the United States) over the course of five or eight years.
In order to save forests in the short term, it seems rather obvious that private, project-based forest carbon would immediately mobilize funding to pay for forest preservation and to avoid a significant part of the current, on-going deforestation that is occurring now. The ability to generate carbon credits has and continues to work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This process depends on carbon finance. Absent a sufficient number of years, say 20 or 30 years, it will be difficult to mobilize private investment in forest carbon projects.
We need in any Senate bill an ability to permit an unlimited time for forest carbon credits to be generated from sub national projects.
To help this process the bill should provide that forest carbon projects verified and validated under the Voluntary Carbon Standard, a leading standard for voluntary forest carbon, and to not restrict or limit in time private, project-based forest carbon. National programs can still proceed, but to make this method the only long-term process for carbon credits would be a terrible mistake. I would encourage those who are interested in this issue and are U.S. citizens to write or email your Senator to urge this approach in any bill passed by any of the Senate committees.
