The Trouble with Trees

This Nature article [PDF] gives lots of interesting details on the difficulty of getting carbon offset credits for Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) reforestation projects.

India should be thick with forestry carbon-offset schemes: it was one of the first nations to move aggressively into carbon offsetting, has robust forestry policies and has vast swaths of land that could be planted. The challenge for Kulkarni and others trying to establish CDM forestry projects has come from the convoluted, expensive and bureaucratic approval process.

The article also highlights the impact of money on action ("We don't understand global warming, but now we eat three meals a day.") and the difficulty in getting credits for trees that will come down anyway (the key is to slow the growing/chopping cycle). The most amazing part, however, is this:

Demand for forestry credits also remains low because the European Union does not yet allow their sale on its emissions trading system, or carbon stock exchange, ostensibly fearing that cheap forest credits would swamp the market and bring down prices.

Now we've got carbon credit protectionism? Egads!

[btw, those who know say that EU opposition to GMOs has more to do with protecting EU companies producing chemical fertilizers and pesticides than protecting consumers.]

Bottom Line: Carbon credits and the CDM are a nightmare to get going, but let's not make it worse with useless (or obstructionist) paperwork!