Nature Alert: Beware of fake carbon brokers, says govt

Sunday 25 October 2009

Beware of fake carbon brokers, says govt

As predicted by Interpol, Nature Alert, and I'm sure others.

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Adianto P. Simamora , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sun, 10/25/2009

The government has warned local authorities not to sign any agreements with fake carbon brokers who promise huge profits from carbon trading in the forestry sector.

Wandojo Siswanto, an expert working with the Forestry Ministry, said carbon brokers were approaching regents or mayors directly, asking them to sign MOUs to develop reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) projects.

“They are promising regencies or cities huge rewards if they commit to REDD projects, but in fact are not offering any concrete programs,” he said.

“It has already happened, in Kalimantan and Sumatra. Brokers claiming to be carbon developers have launched mass campaigns by showing regents films to convince them to sign MOUs, but local administrations have not seen a single rupiah in return yet.”

He said brokers sold the MOUs in international markets to enrich themselves, not regencies or cities.

Wandojo, who is also head of the country’s working group on the forestry sector at the international climate change conference, declined to name the brokers, saying there were at least 20 international carbon brokers in the forestry sector in Indonesia.

“There are misperceptions about REDD, particularly from local administrations who see it only as carbon trading that can be used as an extra source of revenue. It then makes it easy for carbon traders to convince regents or mayors to trust them,” he said.

Wandojo said his office could not do much to resolve this issue since the local authorities were granted the power - through regional autonomy - to manage their forests.

Many are hoping that REDD, an alternative scheme to cut greenhouse gas emissions to deal with climate change, will be part of the post-2012 global climate agreement.

Indonesia was the first country to issue a regulation on REDD, allowing indigenous peoples, local authorities, private organizations and businesspeople, both local and foreign, to run REDD projects.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/10/25/beware-fake-carbon-brokers-says-govt.html

Hall of Shame for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the Palm Oil Industry.

Nothing can prepare one for the sight of the systematic extermination of orangutans by the government of Indonesia.

Look at the photos and news articles on these pages in the context of a statement the President made to the media on 10th December 2007.

“In the last 35 years about 50,000 orangutans are estimated to have been lost as their habitats shrank. If this continues, this majestic creature will likely face extinction by 2050,” President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said at the launch of an orangutan conservation plan at the climate talks in Bali.

“The fate of the orangutan is a subject that goes to the heart of sustainable forests … To save the orangutan we have to save the forest.”

Statements like these are most welcome, but unless backed up by action, such words fall on deaf ears within the Ministry of Forestry....who are busy granting licences to cut down the very forests the President says they should protect!

When you think you are to busy to help, please could you reflect for a moment on .........

The following extract refers to environmental problems in general. I just hope you find it as thought provoking and relevant to orangutans as I have.

"This is such a shocking and unpalatable fact that most people deny it, or they just don't want to think about it. They believe as individuals, they can do little about it, so push it to the back of their minds. But I can't do that.

When something has to be done, we need to do it. It doesn't matter how big the challenge is or how hard the solution; if I know something is wrong, and I am in a position to help, I will do my best to make it right." Duncan Bannatyne, successful British businessman.