Peruvian Rainforest Dwellers Charge Privatization Scheme

by Bill Weinberg, Indian Country Today

When the United Nations process on climate change unveiled the program known as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) three years ago, it was hailed as "an effort to create a financial value for the carbon stored in forests, offering incentives for developing countries to reduce emissions from forested lands..." Last year, the program was redubbed "REDD+"—to emphasize "the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks."

REDD is part of a larger concept of trading "carbon credits" to provide an incentive to keep forests standing. The sale of these credits actually empowers the buyer (generally in the industrialized word) to engage in activities that emit carbon. Each ton of emitted carbon per purchased credit can be deducted from the yearly toll when computating emission caps established for participating nations under the Kyoto Protocol. In theory, this is to result in a net reduction in global emissions.