There is confusion on climate change as to what happens now given the narrow Copenhagen Accord leaves most areas of the UN negotiations up in the air. But amid the failure in Copenhagen to get agreement on all manner of issues needed for a new global climate agreement, the area that arguably saw the most progress towards a final outcome was REDD.
Around 15 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions worldwide come from the clearing of forests for their timber and for agricultural expansion, mainly in tropical countries. So the long-hoped for agreement on an international system to reduce deforestation and degradation and enhance forest carbon stocks in developing countries, specifically now called REDD-plus, remains vital to tackling climate change.
There was clear intent in the Copenhagen Accord to get REDD going without delay. Among the generally thin commitments in the last-minute deal stitched up by Barack Obama and the leaders of China, India, South Africa ...