Proposal: 25 billion dollars to save tropical forests

A global policy to preserve forests and limit carbon dioxide emissions will likely be folded into a draft text this week at the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, UN negotiators are preparing a 25 billion US dollar proposal to save tropical forests in more than 10 countries.

"It would be a huge addition to protecting forests,'' says Steve Schwartzman, the director of tropical forest policy at the New York-based Environmental Defense Fund.

Trees soak up greenhouse gas, and their destruction is responsible for almost a fifth of global emissions each year. The plan is to reward investors, for instance by letting them earn carbon-emission credits in return for saving trees, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

The newspaper cites American Electric Power Co for saying that forest preservation may be cheaper than funding carbon capture and storage - a process that captures carbon dioxide from industrial and power plants and stores it away from the atmosphere by different means.

However, there is no guarantee that the proposal will be adopted, the newspaper reports. Delegates have met for four days without approving a draft for 10 billion dollars in general climate aid proposed for all developing nations.

Source: http://en.cop15.dk/news/view+news?newsid=2934