I had an opportunity to have a chat with José Antonio Ocampo Gaviria, a new Fellow at The Baker Institute (where I work part time). I've been wondering about how carbon credits might be applied to efforts by the developing world as a way to provide capital for nation building. Mr. Ocampo is the former United Nations under-secretary-general for economic and social affairs, a position he held until mid-2007.
From his perspective, the most successful schemes that accomplish this come from National Reforestation programs. Check out the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs pages that deal with reforestation issues and many other issues relating to climate change.
In Ocampo's native country, Colombia, the government is now paying former coca growers to be stewards of the forest. [link]
Costa Rica is a good example of how the mechanism works. The government has set up a program for reforestation that is funded through the sales of carbon offsets. The program pays people to maintain and protect forests on their lands. [link]
some useful links: Conservation International Reforestation: Wikipedia Trees for the Future
Saturday, April 12, 2008
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