Ecosystem Marketplace recently released its State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets 2013. During 2012, the market for voluntary carbon credits grew by 4% in volume, reaching 101 million tonnes of carbon offsets. But the market value decreased by 11% as the average price of voluntary carbon credits fell from US$6.2 in 2011, to US$5.9 in…
Corruption in Tanzania: President’s men took over, Norwegian aid money disappeared
In February 2013, Siri Gedde-Dahl, a journalist with Norway’s Aftenposten newspaper, investigated corruption in a REDD project in Tanzania funded by Norway. In a recent Aftenposten article, Gedde-Dahl reports that Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania, the Tanzanian NGO that was running the project, has collapsed.
Clean development mechanism: zombie projects, zero emissions reductions and almost worthless carbon credits
Last week, the clean development mechanism registered its 7,000th project. At a first glance, the statistics look impressive. Over a 10 year period, the CDM has issued 1.3 billion carbon credits, added 110,000 Mega Watts of renewable energy and seen US$215 billion invested in low carbon projects in the Global South.
Missing the Poorest for the Trees?
“In order to be both effective and equitable, REDD+ will require large areas of land with clear tenure arrangements. Yet many developing countries suffer from conflicts over land ownership and continue to exclude local communities from land use decisions. How will REDD+ impact peace and security in these countries?”
Australia shuts down the Kalimantan Forest Carbon Partnership: “A lot of funds spent and very little progress”
Australia has quietly shelved its Kalimantan Forest Carbon Partnership project. The US$43 million project will be closed before most of the project’s targets have been met.