Seeing REDD? How it works in Papua New Guinea

Carbon Planet takes steps to explain how Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) works and what’s been going on in Papua New Guinea with forestry offset schemes.

From Carbon Planet:

REDD stands for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation. REDD is a carbon market-based mechanism to prevent the logging of forests and replace the income from the logging with an income from the earning of carbon credits. The carbon credits are awarded from protecting the forests and as a result stopping the carbon emissions that are released from forest deforestation and degradation.

How are REDD credits awarded?

The only carbon credits that can be awarded are those that have been certified by, validated, verified and registered, under credible independent International Standards bodies such as the Voluntary Carbon Association (VCA), which operates the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS).

VCS carbon credits or Voluntary Carbon Units (VCUs) must be held in a VCS approved independent carbon registry. VCS projects can also be certified to meet the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standard which is operated by the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA) and the Social Carbon Standard operated by the Ecologica Institute and Social Carbon organisation.

What is the status of REDD projects in PNG?

Papua New Guinea has, for some time, had contracts in place with international timber companies and other resource companies enabling them to harvest the indigenous rainforests. Indigenous landowners signed over their timber rights to the Papua New Guinean Government who in turn offered these landowner areas as timber concession areas to timber companies to harvest or leased the landowner’s areas to resource companies to extract other resources such as gold, oil or gas.

The process whereby the landowners agree to assign the timber rights to their land to the Government is known as the Forest Management Agreement (FMA) Process. A Forest Management Agreement (FMA) is signed by the landowners and the PNG Government. Landowners receive royalties from the timber concession holding company for timber harvested, or from the resource company for minerals extracted from their land.

The royalties represented income for some members of the indigenous community. However, management practice standards in the timber and resource industries in Papua New Guinea have been less than ideal, resulting in deleterious environmental and social impacts locally.

However, Papua New Guinea has taken the lead in identifying the important role rainforests play in providing ecosystem services to the global and local community with the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Sir Michael Somare calling for and establishing the Coalition for Rainforest Nations with the objective of forested tropical countries collaborating to reconcile forest stewardship with economic development.

What about the so-called “fake” carbon credit certificates the press has reported?

As at September 7, 2009, to the best of our knowledge, no “fake” carbon credit certificates have been created.

In mid 2008 the Office of Climate Change (who is the Designated National Authority (DNA) who authorises carbon market activities) created a “symbolic REDD credit certificate” as a sample certificate with no commercial value.

Carbon Planet has had no involvement with them; we understand the certificates were an internal sample produced by the Office of Climate Change not for any commercial use or purpose. The “REDD credit certificates” were not intended as anything but a symbolic reference of a REDD credit certificate.

The only REDD credits or carbon credits that can be awarded are those that have been, validated, verified and registered or certified, under credible independent international standards or bodies such as the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS), and the issued certified VCS credits known as Voluntary Carbon Units (VCUs) must be held in an independent carbon registry approved by the VCS. VCS REDD projects may also be certified under the Community Climate Biodiversity Standard (CCBS) of the Community Climate Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA).

As far as selling bogus carbon credit certificates, since we were founded in 2000, Carbon Planet has never, and will never sell any carbon credits that haven’t been properly certified by a third party carbon certification body and held in an independent carbon credit registry. In fact, we are one of the only carbon retailers that sells properly certified carbon credits and transfers ownership to all buyers via an independent carbon registry account.

I’ve purchased carbon credits from Carbon Planet in the past, are my carbon credits okay?

Carbon Planet has only ever retailed and wholesaled carbon credits certified by reputable third party carbon credit certification bodies. This means that you can be sure that they were legally created, that payment reached rightful stakeholders, and that they represent real and additional carbon benefits. Furthermore, unlike most other carbon credit retailers, you retain legal ownership of the carbon credit once purchased.

Any carbon credits you have purchased from Carbon Planet have met our stringent procurement policy.

Did Carbon Planet pay $1.2m to the PNG Government to either buy carbon credits or be awarded projects?

As at September 7, 2009, Carbon Planet has never paid any monies to the PNG Government. Carbon Planet paid AU$1.2m in project finance to project developer Nupan Trading Corporation (PNG) Limited. Carbon Planet operates under a strict code of conduct.

What is the relationship between Nupan and Carbon Planet?

Nupan, as well as other project developers, has contracted Carbon Planet to provide the certification and trading services for its carbon projects in Papua New Guinea and other countries around the World. Nupan and Carbon Planet are not joint venture partners in any project.

Who are Nupan and Kirk Roberts?

Kirk Roberts is the principal of Nupan Trading Company Ltd. Mr Roberts has worked for some nine years in PNG, the last three concentrating on educating and informing people about the potential for not logging their forests, but rather preserving them for future generations by using Carbon Trading as a revenue source.

What are Nupan and Kirk Roberts doing in PNG?

Nupan has considerable indigenous landowner support for carbon trading. Some 6,000 people turned out of their own accord, some having walked for five and six days, to get to Apenda Village to witness the handover ceremony from Timothy Tepi to “Roberts” (as he is known in PNG), on behalf of the 45,000 people of East Pangia.

To the best of our knowledge, at no time has Kirk promised any amount of money for carbon trading. On the contrary, Kirk has always said that the free market overseas will determine what the value of a Wontok Credit (http://www.carbonowontok.org/) is, and this can only be achieved via a rigorous process of consultation, education, and documentation.

For three years “Roberts” and a team of local people have been working to get the first Government sanctioned REDD project up, and they are now very close. The verification process is well underway, and should be concluded within the next two months.

Source: www.carbonplanet.com