According to a report released earlier this year, there has probably never been a more exciting time to be a tropical forest ecologist. With the emerging global forest carbon market alongside the growing interest in payments for ecosystem services, there is an immediate and unprecedented need for ecologists' expertise.

Forest carbon market frameworks, like the UN REDD+ initiative (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation), depend on establishing historical baselines for land-use changes and drivers of deforestation, estimating carbon stocks and monitoring the response of forests over 10 to 20 year periods into the future.

The report - "How can ecologists help realise the potential of payments for carbon in tropical forest countries?" - was written by several authors, including Tim baker of the University of Leeds, and published in the Journal of Applied Ecology. Real world examples analysed in the study came mainly from the Peruvian Amazon, which contains 88% of that country's forest. Peru's forests are high in carbon content and face a variety of deforestation rates and threats. There are several REDD type projects already off the ground here and the new Ministry for Environment is about to implement a national programme for forest conservation which aims to collaborate with forest communities, including offering them payments for ecosystem services.

The knowledge that ecologists have about patterns of carbon stocks, biodiversity and the sensitivity of specific ecosystems to changing environmental, climatic and anthropogenic impacts is invaluable in informing the development of avoided deforestation projects within a forest carbon market. REDD+ projects, for example, need to have their carbon as well as social and economic data validated, verified and monitored periodically. Quantifying the changes in carbon stocks and assessing the permanence of project outcomes are issues that require an ecological perspective. The accurate assessment of leakage (negative impacts - like increased deforestation - outside of but related to the conservation project area) and also understanding the implications of a project for biodiversity management are also jobs which call for an ecologist as part of the team.

The single most important input from ecologists to global forest conservation is likely to be into the design of an effective and workable low-cost monitoring system for forest carbon stocks.

Sources: Cool Earth, Journal of Applied Ecology (British Ecological Society)

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The cost of environmental damage to the global economy hit 6.6 trillion US dollars—11 percent of the global GDP—in 2008, according to a new study by the Principles for Responsible (PRI) and UNEP Finance Initiative. If business continues as usual, the study predicts that environmental damage will cost 28 trillion dollars by 2050. The new study undercuts the popular belief that environmental health and economic welfare are at odds.

"This report sends a powerful message that the environment is also the business of business," Paul Clements-Hunt, executive director of UNEP Finance Initiative, said in a statement, adding that "Polluters must pay. Safeguarding the environment and using our natural assets efficiently entail collective action. Cohesive policy and regulation is required to fully account for externalities and speed up the integration of material environmental issues into investment decisions"

According to the report, one third of the environmental destruction (costing 2.2 trillion US dollars) was carried out by the world's top 3,000 public companies. The most destructive industries included utilities, oil and gas, and mining.

"An increasing number of large investors are recognizing that environmental externalities generated by one company are likely to come back and hit their portfolios in another place or time," James Gifford, Executive Director of PRI said in a statement.

Implementing clean energy and more efficient technologies could lower the projected cost of environmental damage by 23 percent in 2050, according to the report. (By Jeremy Hance)

Source: Mongabay

Influence of market speculators too risky for the future of the planet

TIANJIN, China - October 5 - A high-level advisory group to the United Nations will outline its draft proposals this week for financing efforts to combat global climate change. Carbon emissions markets are expected to be central in their recommendations. But carbon market prices would likely be too volatile to provide a reliable source of finance, and other options should be considered, according to a new analysis released today by the U.S.-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP).

The United Nations Secretary-General’s High-level Advisory Group on Climate Finance (AGF) will present key elements of a draft report on October 7 at the U.N. global climate talks in Tianjin. The AGF will present a final report in Cancun, Mexico at the next Conference of the Parties (COP 16) meeting in early December.

The IATP paper, “Trusting in Dark (Carbon) Markets” by Steve Suppan, warns that carbon markets are vulnerable to excessive speculation by big financial firms. Those same firms wreaked havoc on agriculture markets in 2007-08, contributing to a sharp rise in global food prices and an increase in global hunger.

“The big financial players are lobbying governments to scale up the trading of carbon,” said Suppan. “But there is no independent evidence to show that carbon market price signals spur industry to make long-term investments in greenhouse gas–reducing technology. These big players are also lobbying for regulatory exemptions that would promote the carbon price volatility that delays or even drives away these investments.”

IATP President Jim Harkness and Senior Program Officer Shefali Sharma are in Tianjin to monitor the U.N. climate negotiations. IATP is co-hosting an October 5 side event in Tianjin on climate finance proposals.

“Agriculture, particularly in developing countries, is the sector most vulnerable to the effects of climate change and badly needs transparent and predictable climate finance,” said Harkness. “A transition toward more sustainable practices will make agriculture, and livelihoods dependent on it, more resilient to climate change, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen global food security. We need to consider alternative climate finance proposals to make this happen.”

IATP has authored a series of papers on climate change, including “Speculating on Carbon,” “The New Climate Debt” and “Climate and Agriculture,” among others. For more, go to IATP’s climate and agriculture website: www.iatp.org/climate.

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The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy works locally and globally at the intersection of policy and practice to ensure fair and sustainable food, farm and trade systems.

Source: Common Dreams.org

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Vulnerable nations affected by climate change could use international laws to break the prolonged deadlock in climate talks by taking rich, polluting nations to court, an environmental law group says.

The call comes as government officials from around the world met in Tianjin, China, this week for a final round of preparatory meetings before the climate change summit in Mexico, later this year.

“A large portion of relevant legal literature suggests that the main polluting nations can be held responsible under international laws for the harmful effects of their greenhouse gas emissions,” said Christoph Schwarte, an attorney from the London-based Foundation for International Environmental Law and Development (FIELD).

The four-page document made available to The Jakarta Post recently outlined a potential legal vehicle to demand rich countries reduce their carbon emissions.

“As a result, affected countries may have a substantive right to demand the cessation of a certain amount of emissions. In selected cases they also have procedural means to pursue an inter-state litigation in an international judicial forum such as the International Court of Justice in The Hague,” Schwarte said.

Legal cases related to the effects of climate change had been filed against public and private entities in several jurisdictions, the paper said.

The governments of developing countries were understandably reluctant to challenge any of the big donor nations in an international court or tribunal, Schwarte said.

“But this may change once the impacts of climate change become even more visible and an adequate agreement remains wanting.”

The one-week meeting in Tianjin that began Monday is scheduled to discuss emissions cuts, climate change mitigation, adaptation, financing, technology transfer and the reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) scheme.

The outcomes of the Tianjin meeting will determine the likely direction of talks at the upcoming climate change summit in Mexico.

However, many have expressed pessimism at the outcomes of Tianjin, as rich nations have largely remained reluctant to agree on legally binding emissions cuts targets for when the Kyoto Protocol’s first commitment expires in 2012.

Since the failure of the Copenhagen summit in 2009 there has been limited progress in climate change negotiations. At the current rate of progress, a new legal framework and ambitious emissions reductions look unlikely for the near-term.

Harry Supriono, an environmental law expert based at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, hailed the FIELD proposal to take rich nations to court as one option to break the deadlock in the climate talks.

“It is possible, although it would involve lengthy procedures,” he told the Post.

The move would at least increase the bargaining position of developing and poor countries at the negotiation table, he said.

“The Indonesian delegation could work with other developing and poor countries to push rich nations to agree to legally binding targets,” he said.

So far, the progress made in climate change negotiations was nowhere near enough to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to safe levels, FIELD director Joy Hyvarinen said.

“Perhaps an international court case could help bring new momentum to the negotiations,” Hyva-rinen said. (By Adianto P. Simamora)

Source: The Jakarta Post