In the battle to save forests, a make-or-break moment for REDD+
Part 2 of my 2-part deep dive into REDD+
In September 2019, something significant happened in the world of forest conservation: Norway agreed to pay Gabon $10 per metric ton of carbon to reduce its emissions from deforestation.
The agreement is an example of the global strategy know as REDD+ (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation), where industrialized nations make results-based payments to developing tropical forest countries for curbing deforestation and avoiding the emissions released when trees are destroyed.
REDD+ advocates saw Norway’s offer as a big deal, given that the going price had long been stuck at $5 per metric ton, an amount Costa Rica’s Minister of Environment Carlos Manuel Rodríguez calls “an insult to anyone who is working to stop deforestation.”
“The price was set in unbalanced negotiations by buyer countries or multilateral institutions,” Frances Seymour, distinguished senior fellow at the World Resources Institute (WRI), said via a Skype video call. “It’s basically been: we’ll pay you $5 a ton, take it or leave it.”
Norway’s offer marked a step in the right direction, still it wasn’t enough. A study from last year estimated it would take at least $20 per ton to dramatically slow…
