Captain Planet is the ultimate superhero as far as I am concerned. His
mission is to save the world from environmental destruction, and his catchy theme
song includes the lyrics “Captain Planet, he's our hero, Gonna take pollution
down to zero.” Marvellous.
However, since he doesn't actually exist
we need to come up with our own inventive ways to combat anthropogenic climate
change. Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) is
one such idea that has emerged from international climate talks and is rapidly
taking off the ground. It was first introduced in 2005 at the annual COP
meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
This 4-minute video is a clear (if slightly biased) summary of REDD+:
Basically REDD+ is a market-based scheme offering financial incentives to
people in developing countries not to deforest. The premise is that with REDD+
in place carbon that would have otherwise ended up in the atmosphere remains
stored in the intact forest and this stored carbon is given a monetary value. Industrialised
countries can purchase carbon credits as one way to offset their emissions. REDD+ is seen
by some as a panacea – a way to combat climate change, save biodiversity and
alleviate global poverty all in one hit. Win-win.
But some are more sceptical about what REDD+ may actually be able to achieve in practice. Can it really be a useful mechanism, or is it the equivalent to pinning all our hopes on a fictitious Captain Planet? I will explore these questions further in my next post so watch this space....
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