A Critical Conversation on Climate Change ... - Green Choices

More documents

Recommendations

Info

226 development dialogue september 2006 – carbon tradingFrom the Netherlands to the Andes –A tale from EcuadorThe Dutch FACE Foundation,Colombiaor ‘Forest Absorbing CarbonDioxide Emissions’, was establishedin 1990 by the Boardof Management of the DutchEcuadorElectricity Generating Companies.The original idea wasto establish 150,000 hectaresof tree plantations to compensatefor the emissions from aPerunew 600-megawatt coal-firedelectricity generation plant tobe built in The Netherlands.‘For reasons of land availabilityand cost-effectiveness’, FACE explained, ‘greater emphasis has beenplaced on collaboration with developing countries and countries intransition’. 9Since 2000, the FACE Foundation has been producing and sellingcarbon credits from tree plantations as an independent, non-profitorganisation. It trades the credits through two Dutch companies:Business for Climate (set up by FACE in 2002 jointly with TriodosBank and Kegado BV) and Triodos Climate Clearing House.The FACE Foundation has five projects worldwide: in Malaysia, theNetherlands, the Czech Republic, Ecuador and Uganda. The FACEProgramme for Forestation in Ecuador S.A., or PROFAFOR, currentlythe largest, was set up in 1993. PROFAFOR has not been approvedas a UN Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project. Butit does see itself as ‘potentially CDM-compliant’ – as sequesteringcarbon over and above what would have been the case otherwise, asproviding social, economic and environmental benefits, and so on.PROFAFOR originally thought to plant 75,000 hectares of trees, butlater revised this goal downward to 25,000 ha. So far contracts havebeen signed for the plantation of 24,000 ha, and 22,000 ha have actuallybeen planted. Initially, PROFAFOR activities were focused onthe Andean region, or Sierra, and 8,000 ha have been planted undercontract with 39 indigenous mountain communities. However, since2000, contracts have also been signed in Ecuador’s coastal region. 10
offsets – the fossil economy’s new arena of conflict 227Paramo soils.Well, planting trees is bound to be a good thing for everybody involved, isn’t it?It’s not so simple. The Sierra sites used by PROFAFOR are located ina biome known by the colonial Spanish term paramo – which denoteshigh altitude plains or barren plateaus without woodlands. This zonewas never forested, although it does support some trees. The dominantvegetation is Andean grasses from the genuses Festuca, Stipa,Calamagrostis and Deyeuxia.The dark, volcanic paramo soils have a complex particulate structurethat, in the cold, moist climate of the Sierra, enables them to retaina great deal of water and organic matter. The soils have a far greatercapacity to hold water than the vegetation covering them, althougha layer of plants is important to keep moisture in the soils duringdry seasons. In the humid but not high-rainfall Sierra environment,paramo soils are believed to be the main water reservoirs for the localinhabitants.Although indigenous agriculture has been practised for hundreds ofyears up to 3,500 metres (the Sacred Valley of Cuzco, a centre ofindigenous agriculture, lies at around 3,000 metres), the ecologicalbalance of the paramo above 3,200 metres is very fragile. If the plantcover is removed even temporarily, evaporation from the surface increasesand organic matter in the soil begins to decompose, resultingin reduced capacity to hold water. Once dry, the soils cannot recovertheir original structure and organic content, even when they get wetagain.The monoculture tree plantations PROFAFOR sets up to fix carbonare a bizarre and damaging innovation in this environment. The speciesused are exotics commonly used in industrial plantations elsewhere.Some 90 per cent are pine, either Pinus radiata (particularly inthe provinces of Carchi and Chimborazo) or, to a lesser extent, Pinuspatula (mainly planted in Cañar and Loja). Eucalyptus and cypressspecies make up another 4 per cent.But what’s wrong with pine trees? PROFAFOR says that experiments withpine in diff erent places get diff erent results and that ‘it cannot be categoricallystated that pine is noxious for paramo soils.’PROFAFOR’s non-indigenous pines dry out and crack the soils, notonly because they disturb the existing vegetative cover, but also becausethey use a great deal of water. Organic matter and biologicalactivity decline, uncompensated for by the fall of pine needles. Soilstend to be transformed from water retainers to water repellents, andsurrounding flora and fauna are deprived of food and habitat. 11
Page 1 and 2:
PRESS RELEASEContact:Linda Chiavaro
Page 3 and 4:
ContentsEditorial note 2Chapter 1 I
Page 5:
editorial note 3in Dorset, UK - poi
Page 8 and 9:
6 development dialogue september 20
Page 10 and 11:
Page 12 and 13:
Page 14 and 15:
Page 16 and 17:
Page 18 and 19:
Page 20 and 21:
Page 22 and 23:
Page 24 and 25:
Page 26 and 27:
Page 28 and 29:
Page 30 and 31:
Page 33 and 34:
Chapter 2‘Made in the USA’A sho
Page 35 and 36:
‘made in the usa’ - a short his
Page 37 and 38:
Page 39 and 40:
Page 41 and 42:
Page 43 and 44:
Page 45 and 46:
Page 47 and 48:
Page 49 and 50:
Page 51 and 52:
Page 53 and 54:
Page 55 and 56:
Page 57 and 58:
Page 59 and 60:
Page 61 and 62:
Page 63 and 64:
Page 65 and 66:
Page 67 and 68:
Page 69 and 70:
Page 71:
Page 74 and 75:
Page 76 and 77:
Page 78 and 79:
Page 80 and 81:
Page 82 and 83:
Page 84 and 85:
Page 86 and 87:
Page 88 and 89:
Page 90 and 91:
Page 92 and 93:
Page 94 and 95:
Page 96 and 97:
Page 98 and 99:
Page 100 and 101:
Page 102 and 103:
100 development dialogue september
Page 104 and 105:
Page 106 and 107:
Page 108 and 109:
Page 110 and 111:
Page 112 and 113:
Page 114 and 115:
Page 116 and 117:
Page 118 and 119:
Page 120 and 121:
Page 122 and 123:
Page 124 and 125:
Page 126 and 127:
Page 128 and 129:
Page 130 and 131:
Page 132 and 133:
Page 134 and 135:
Page 136 and 137:
Page 138 and 139:
Page 140 and 141:
Page 142 and 143:
Page 144 and 145:
Page 146 and 147:
Page 148 and 149:
Page 150 and 151:
Page 152 and 153:
Page 154 and 155:
Page 156 and 157:
Page 158 and 159:
Page 160 and 161:
Page 162 and 163:
Page 164 and 165:
Page 166 and 167:
Page 168 and 169:
Page 170 and 171:
Page 172 and 173:
Page 174 and 175:
Page 176 and 177:
Page 178 and 179: 176 development dialogue september
Page 218: 216 development dialogue september
Page 278 and 279:
Page 280 and 281:
Page 282 and 283:
Page 284 and 285:
Page 286 and 287:
Page 288 and 289:
Page 290 and 291:
Page 292 and 293:
Page 294 and 295:
Page 296 and 297:
Page 298 and 299:
Page 300 and 301:
Page 302 and 303:
Page 304 and 305:
Page 306 and 307:
Page 308 and 309:
Page 310 and 311:
Page 312 and 313:
Page 314 and 315:
Page 316 and 317:
Page 318 and 319:
Page 320 and 321:
Page 322 and 323:
Page 324 and 325:
Page 326 and 327:
Page 328 and 329:
Page 331 and 332:
Chapter 5Ways forwardIn which the c
Page 333 and 334:
ways forward 331‘Tinkering around
Page 335 and 336:
ways forward 333suggests that the
Page 337 and 338:
ways forward 335more stringent than
Page 339 and 340:
ways forward 337Unlike carbon tradi
Page 341 and 342:
ways forward 339hold little appeal
Page 343 and 344:
ways forward 341Waiting their Chanc
Page 345 and 346:
ways forward 343ways - many of whic
Page 347 and 348:
ways forward 345energy - loan benef
Page 349 and 350:
ways forward 347From an Open Letter
Page 351 and 352:
ways forward 349be answered in the
Page 353 and 354:
ways forward 351rogated by Indian v
Page 355 and 356:
ways forward 353argue, they’ve he
Page 357 and 358:
ways forward 355‘The US alone acc
Page 359 and 360:
appendix - the durban declaration o
Page 361 and 362:
appendix - the durban declaration o
show all

A Critical Conversation on Climate Change ... - Green Choices

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?