Indonesia to sell carbon credits to conserve forests

(From Nature magazine, 11 Mar 2009)

Indonesia has applied to join a World Bank programme intended to help developing nations fight deforestation by selling tradeable carbon credits.

International climate negotiators are working to allow developing nations the right to sell some carbon credits if they clamp down on deforestation, which is responsible for roughly 20% of global greenhouse-gas emissions. The World Bank's US$300-million Forest Carbon Partnership Facility is designed to lay the groundwork for such an international agreement.

The programme already includes 25 countries, but Indonesia, the world's third-largest greenhouse-gas emitter, had remained on the sidelines until it applied in Feburary. The bank estimates that the country could earn between US$400 million and $2 billion selling credits for protecting forests.