Abstract:
Introduction
Until now forest carbon trading has been possible only
through the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the
Kyoto Protocol of the United Nations Framework Con-
vention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). But CDM is limited
to afforestation and reforestation projects. The option for
reducing rates of carbon emissions by improved forest
management and by avoided deforestation is not eligible,
despite the fact that the Intergovernmental Panel on Cli-
mate Change (IPCC) estimates that 20–25% of current
annual carbon emissions result from loss of tropical forest
(IPCC, 2007). The contribution of tropical deforestation to
global carbon emissions has prompted re-negotiation of
climate change policy to include Reduced Emissions from
Deforestation and Degradation (REDD). This would allow
tropical forest nations to claim for compensation, if they
reduce national rates of deforestation and degradation
through management of natural forests
