Browsing by Subject "Tropical Forests"
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Item Carbon Emissions Trading in Indonesia: An Analysis of Its Feasibility and Rationale(2020-04) Brink, AnnekaOver the past decade the United Nations has developed a framework consistent with conserving carbon and biodiversity-rich forests while simultaneously reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. The project, known as REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries), was created as an international framework to halt deforestation, specifically in tropical nations. By valuing forests in terms of their ecosystem services, as opposed to solely their export value, REDD+ aims to encourage financially developing countries to preserve natural carbon sinks and decrease the number of forests converted to alternate uses. Putting a price tag on the role forest ecosystems play in carbon capture and storage allows forest conservation to compete economically with historically more lucrative forest exploitation practices. The first country to facilitate REDD+ implementation was Indonesia in 2009. As the world’s top greenhouse gas emitter from deforestation, degradation, and land-use change, Indonesia has a unique opportunity to achieve substantial emissions reductions at relatively low abatement costs. In 2011, Indonesia and Norway signed a landmark deal stipulating that Norway would pay Indonesia USD $1 billion if the country verifiably reduced carbon emissions stemming from deforestation and peatland conversion. After nearly a decade of ineffective policies and reforms ridden with loopholes, Indonesia finally recorded three consecutive years of declining emissions, beginning in 2017. While this pollution prevention represents a success for the environment, climate change mitigation, and REDD+ stakeholders around the world, there is room for improvement. If Indonesia is to have any hope of achieving its 2030 emissions reductions targets, more extensive reforms and stronger regulatory forces ought to be enacted. This paper discusses the feasibility and rationale behind the current REDD+ offset project operating in Indonesia. The challenge for Indonesia is for such an offset system to achieve economic growth, social equity, and reduced forest cover loss simultaneously. If not, the policy could reveal that the triple-win scenario is rooted in inherently contradictory goals, thus undermining effective policymaking for conserving Indonesia’s imperiled tropical forests.