REDD+

Germany has committed 27 million euros ($39 million) for a pilot project that would demonstrate how the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation program would work ahead of its implementation in 2012.

The pilot project is scheduled to begin this month in three districts in Kalimantan — Kapuas Hulu in West Kalimantan and Malinau and Berau in East Kalimantan — and will continue until 2016.

2009 may prove to be an important turning point for tropical forests.

Lead by Brazil, which had the lowest extent of deforestation since at least the 1980s, global forest loss likely declined to its lowest level in more than a decade. Critical to the fall in deforestation was the global financial crisis, which dried up credit for forest-destroying activities and contributed to a crash in commodity prices, an underlying driver of deforestation.
 

The Copenhagen Accord recognized the need for a mechanism to funnel money into projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation while promoting sustainable forest management.  Maria Bendana digs into the latest negotiating text and offers a detailed summary of the most relevant sections.

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - The United States has pledged $1 billion as part of a $3.5 billion scheme as initial financing toward slowing deforestation, a major contributor to climate change, a U.S. government statement said on Wednesday.

COPENHAGEN 2009: THE FINAL draft of a deal on curbing carbon emissions from deforestation has been stripped of any real protection for natural forests or indigenous peoples who have looked after them for cen