The 'virtual economy' of REDD+ projects: does private certification of REDD+ projects ensure their environmental integrity?

Autor: Jacques Faure, Gabriela Simonet, Laura Brimont, Sébastien Desbureaux, Alain Karsenty, Coline Seyller, Symphorien Ongolo
Rok vydání: 2016
Předmět:
Économie foncière
Montant compensatoire
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
certification des forêts
Geography
Planning and Development

forêt tropicale
Certification
010501 environmental sciences
01 natural sciences
K01 - Foresterie - Considérations générales
Credibility
Gouvernance
Virtual economy
Utilisation des terres
Ecology
Forestry
Communauté rurale
séquestration du carbone
E11 - Economie et politique foncières
réduction des émissions
protection de la forêt
Transparency (graphic)
économie de l'environnement
P01 - Conservation de la nature et ressources foncières
P40 - Météorologie et climatologie
Aménagement forestier
Business model
K70 - Dégâts causés aux forêts et leur protection
Carbon credit
Baseline (configuration management)
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Changement climatique
Environmental economics
Déboisement
Climate governance
E14 - Economie et politique du développement
Politique forestière
Business
Zdroj: International Forestry Review
ISSN: 2053-7778
1465-5489
Popis: Certification standard bodies in climate governance are assumed to function as independent third parties agencies in transactions, providing trust and transparency to ensure that the calculation of carbon credits is reliable. This article investigates the validity of this assumption for the voluntary forest carbon market by analysing the environmental credibility of baseline scenarios of two certified REDD+ projects, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (the Maï Ndombe REDD+ Project) and in Madagascar (The CAZ REDD+ Project). Authors show that these two certified REDD+ projects resemble 'virtual emission reduction machines' designed to inflate the production of carbon credits and that they do not structurally change the local economy characteristics which drive deforestation. The design of both REDD+ and certification standards business models leads almost inevitably to the decision to use a baseline scenario with high deforestation rates and to limited interventions in the field. The need to deal with the carbon market's price volatility and to cover the fixed costs of certification exacerbates this trend towards inflated baselines, which also assists in the reduction of land use conflicts with local populations.
Databáze: OpenAIRE