#4. Avoided Deforestation
Forests, especially on the tropics, are virtual carbon banks — and
when they're cut down, that carbon is released into the atmosphere. At least
80,000 acres of forest disappear from the Earth each day, and deforestation
is estimated to be responsible for about 20% of global carbon emissions. One
way to slow deforestation might be for rich nations to compensate poorer
nations for taking care of their tropical trees, but such avoided
deforestation deals weren't recognized under the Kyoto Protocol. That looks
about to change. In June the World Bank began raising $250 million for a
pilot fund for avoided deforestation projects, and with further talks at
this year's UN climate summit held in Indonesia — the world's
third-biggest carbon emitter, thanks chiefly to the speed at which it is
massacring its trees — the idea is gaining momentum.