Carbon Trading: Briefing note
Suffering here to help them over there
The Guaraqueçaba Climate Action Project is a nearly 7,000 ha forest carbon offset project initiative by the Nature Conservancy (TNC) and Brazilian NGO Sociedade de Pesquisa em Vida Selvagem e Educacao Ambiemental (SPVS). For centuries indigenous Guarani and traditional communities have used the land that is now part of the forest offset project and the surrounding protected areas for fishing, hunting and small scale extraction of palmito. Access to that land has been restricted by the forest carbon offset project and the film shows the effect this is having on local communities.
The project is presented internationally as a model forest carbon offset project in the debate about Reducing Emissions for Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD), but it can now be seen as another example of the suffering that can lead from poorly planned conservation projects. As one of the community members explains, “The forest can’t be sold, it’s ours. The others can use it but they need to know how to share it with us, not buy everything and expel us.”
The film was made with the support of FERN who recently released an animation “The story of REDD: A real solution to deforestation?“ which shows that the concerns raised by the community of Guaraqueçaba are widespread. The aim of this film is to allow the communities’ voices to be heard, and to encourage other communities faced with REDD projects to see the issues to watch out for.
Banking on carbon markets: Why the European Investment Bank got it wrong in the fight against climate change
This briefing provides an overview of the publicly documented involvement of the European Investment Bank (EIB) in support of failing carbon markets. It is based on a report by the organisations Counter Balance and Campagna per la riforma della banca mondiale (CRBM). The original report is available here.
| Document | Size |
|---|---|
 Banking on carbon markets.pdf | 405.89 KB |
Why carbon markets will not deliver for Southern governments, forests and people
| Document | Size |
|---|---|
| carbonleaflet_25nov.pdf | 326.76 KB |
Why Congo Basin countries stand to lose out from a market based REDD
This briefing paper unravels the implications of setting a historical baseline with a correction factor for low deforestation countries. It also explains why carbon markets are unlikely to raise the anticipated funds for forest protection, due to the unsuitability of applying these policy mechanisms to forests, and why any funds raised are unlikely to reach Central Africa or other regions with low deforestation rates and weak governance. Wider institutional and policy reforms, which are crucial to tackling deforestation effectively, would be better addressed by a funding mechanism which does not involve the trading of carbon.
| Document | Size |
|---|---|
| congo basin countries lose out.pdf | 266.55 KB |
Avoiding Deforestation and Degradation: Walking the tightrope to success
A short briefing note which looks at how to ensure REDD schemes have a threefold purpose: to safeguard and enforce the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities, to bring an end to great swathes of deforestation and to help address climate change.
| Document | Size |
|---|---|
| walking the tightrope to success | 1.08 MB |
| Marcher sur la corde raide menant au succès | 1.02 MB |
Seeing RED; avoided deforestation and rights issues
| Document | Size |
|---|---|
| OPEN | 331.3 KB |
The CDM methodology approval process and the exclusion of avoided fuel switch projects
| Document | Size |
|---|---|
| OPEN | 62.54 KB |
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Given the urgent need to limit global warming, 
FERN wrote this guest commentary for PointCarbon (www.pointcarbon.com) to highlight that the time has come to give up waiting for the "market" to deliver the structural changes needed to keep global warming below two degrees and start taking direct action.Subscribe to our newsletters
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