A revolutionary scheme backed by the World Bank to pay poor countries billions of dollars a year to stop felling trees is the best way to stop logging and save the planet from climate change, according to wealthy countries and conservationists, yet documents seen by the Observer show the plan is actually leading to corruption and possibly more logging.
Human rights and environment groups on Saturday called for a radical rethink of the UN scheme, known as REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation), after it emerged that many countries were trying to cheat the system.
Under the UN program, 37 mainly tropical countries have requested more than US$14 billion in grants from rich countries by 2015 in return for cutting their carbon emissions from logging and other forestry activities. This is expected to lead to an income of more than US$10 billion a year by 2020 when a global carbon offset scheme is in operation.
The carbon money flowing from rich to poor countries will then theoretically dwarf international aid and could reduce global emissions by 17 percent 20 percent — more than that emitted by all the world’s transport.
However, analysis of the 16 forestry reform plans so far submitted by REDD countries to the World Bank shows that many intend to abuse the system in order to collect the money while carrying on logging as usual.
Documents show that the Democratic Republic of Congo wants to open up 10 million hectares of new logging concessions as part of its plan. The country, which is ranked as one of the most corrupt in the world, argues that it will reduce emissions by planting more trees elsewhere.
Guyana intends to use some of its REDD money to pay a property dealer from Florida to build a road and a major hydroelectric plant in some of its most densely forested areas. Indonesia has said it will impose a moratorium on the conversion of its extensive peat forests to palm plantations, but only after 2013, allowing logging companies to ravage its forests until then. Other countries are setting the present rate of deforestation deliberately high or are ignoring all present logging, so that they can be paid to do nothing.
Environment groups also fear that REDD is being used by governments to victimize and steal the carbon rights of people who live and depend on the forests.
Last month, police arrested a UK-based businessman alleged to have paid government officials and others in return for the emission rights on 20 percent of Liberia’s forests. Interpol said last year the chances were “very high” that criminal gangs would seek to take advantage.
“Alarm bells are ringing. REDD is simply too big to monitor. The potential for criminality is vast and has not been taken into account,” said Peter Younger, an Interpol environment crimes specialist and author of a report for the World Bank on illegal forestry.
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