Climate: Real problem, false solutions. No.3: REDD+
To solve the global warming crisis, multinationals are suggesting false solutions. Far from solving the problem they are contributing with their share of damages. This article is the 3rd in a series of five to appear this week.
3/ REDD+
“Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation” a very worthwhile aim, and a + too which is the icing on the cake! The system is simple: the country (or local population, associations etc.) owning any substantial resources located within forests assesses the financial loss of not carrying out deforestation and the quantity of carbon that will therefore not be introduced into the atmosphere. Then industrialised countries (or collectives, NGOs, multinationals etc.) pay these forested nations to avert the destruction of their forests. In exchange for their forest saving investment, they are offered a means of offsetting their emissions and/ or carbon credits. A fair deal then! And the + is for when we’re also talking about the enhancement of carbon stocks, sustainable forest management and forest conservation.
Really?
On closer inspection it becomes clear that REDD+ serves as little more than the means of concealing the negotiated disappearance of forests that occurs during a COP, instead of anyone posing the question of how greenhouse gases resulting from the use of fossil fuels can be effectively reduced.
This covers no more than potential deforestation, and therefore nothing concrete. In contrast, the carbon credits on offer are very real indeed, and represent a license to emit greenhouse gases at will. Furthermore, peasant populations who call these forested areas home, often find themselves obliged to reduce their food production in order to plant trees, thereby reducing their food sovereignty. Conservation agreements can also result in their loss of access to areas routinely used for the harvesting of plants, hunting or shifting cultivation.
Now climate negotiations are examining the possibility of making agricultural land eligible for these carbon offsetting systems and compensation. This would be an open door for land grabs by multinationals eager to secure opportunities to continue disrupting the environment without this process ever being redressed.
Corporate solutions are false solutions, and will not solve the climate crisis.
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