Climate deals turn up heat in Indonesia's dark peatlands

Science has long known that Indonesia's 20 million hectares (50 million acres) of dense, black tropical peat swamps, formed when trees, roots and leaves rot, are natural carbon stores, explained University of Nottingham peat expert Professor Jack Rieley. "They are 50-60% carbon. Peat stores more carbon than all of the planet's vegetation combined," he said. Now the dots have been joined between peatlands and the massive amounts of climate change-related carbon emissions they release when burnt or drained to plant crops such as palm oil.

Years of lucrative deforestation for timber and palm oil plantations has entrenched the practice of burning vast areas of Indonesian land, smothering neighboring Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei in annual choking smoke clouds, known as haze. Now, in a sudden reversal, keeping Indonesia's forest cover intact is a hot investment ticket in a warming world. Already, investors are knocking on doors in towns close to peat swamps, such as Palangkaraya, in Central Kalimantan. Emissions cuts from forest areas such as peatlands are not yet eligible for trade, because they were excluded from the Kyoto Protocol's first, 2008-2012, round. But many predict they will be in six months' time, after the UN climate meeting in Bali hears a report on Reduced Emissions from Deforestation

As home to 60% of the world's threatened tropical peatlands, and among the world's top three carbon emitters when peat emissions are added in, Indonesia is in the spotlight. But stitching up peat swamp carbon deals without involving local communities risks raising real tensions, said Jutta Kill of FERN, the Forests and the European Union Resource Network. "Because the focus is narrowly on keeping the carbon stored, the incentive to police is increased," she said from Britain. "In Uganda, people have been shot at by forest rangers to defend carbon forestry projects." This kind of market-led carbon trading is not the only way to safeguard forest carbon, she said. "Northern countries could do a lot by not pushing deforestation through (expanding) palm oil and biodiesel (developments)".

- This is an interesting development, from the point of view of someone who lives in one of the countries affected by the annual Indonesian haze. It could get even more interesting if big money moves into this carbon trading thing.

See the highlighted portions above - one can imagine shooting wars between rival factions, one interested in burning the forests to grow palm oil, the other interested in defending the forests to protect billion-dollar carbon credits. Gives a new meaning to "resource wars", doesn't it.

Post a Comment:

Comments are closed for this entry.

« Oil reserves drying... | Main | Russia to allow... »

Most popular blog postings on lowem.log :

1. Singapore MRT rail network length to double by 2020
2. 2010 Nissan Leaf electric car specifications : 107hp, 24KWh lithium-ion batteries, 100-mile range
3. Live spot gold price quotes chart on COMEX
4. 2010 Toyota Prius specifications released : 50 mpg, 1.8L, 134hp, Ni-MH, solar roof option
5. AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 2011 direct download link
6. Real-time live gold and silver price quotes chart on COMEX
7. Singapore electric vehicles : Government agencies EMA and LTA to study EV introduction
8. Book review : Shut Down by William Flynn

Featured articles on lowem.log :

1. Book review : Shut Down by William Flynn
2. Singapore electric cars testing starts with 9 electric vehicles
3. Honda, GS Yuasa JV to make lithium-ion batteries for 2010/2011 Honda Civic Hybrid
4. 2010 Honda Civic Hybrid preliminary specifications released
5. 2010 Honda CR-Z hybrid, 2010 Honda Fit/Jazz hybrid models confirmed
6. 2010 Toyota Prius specifications released : 50 mpg, 1.8L, 134hp, Ni-MH, solar roof option
7. NYMEX crude oil recovers from $32.40 low after 2.2 mbpd OPEC production cut announced
8. Singapore : Nuclear power not ruled out