| – Amaila Falls project cited as one caseThe analysis of the 16 forestry reform plans so far submitted by REDD countries to the World Bank shows that many, including Guyana, intend to abuse the system in order to collect the money while carrying on logging as usual.International environmental groups have called for a radical rethink of the United Nations’ Redd (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) programme after the investigations show how these countries plan to cheat the system.REDD+ is a plan devised as countries around the world attempt to find a solution to save the planet from climate change.The scheme, backed by the World Bank to pay poor countries billions of dollars a year to stop felling trees, was determined as the best way to stop logging and save the planet from climate change, according to wealthy countries and conservationists. However, the reform plans submitted by at least 16 countries have shown that the plan is actually leading to corruption and possibly more logging.Under REDD,Wholesale Jerseys China, 37 mainly tropical countries are to be paid more than $14bn in grants from rich countries by 2015 in return for cutting their carbon emissions from logging and other forestry activities. This means an income of more than $10bn a year by 2020. The carbon money flowing from rich to poor countries will then in theory,Wholesale China Jerseys, be more than international aid and could reduce global emissions by 17-20%.However, the plans submitted by some countries have revealed their intentions of corruption. The Democratic Republic of Congo plans to open up 10 million hectares (25m acres) of new logging concessions as part of its plan. The country, ranked as one of the most corrupt in the world, argues that it will reduce emissions by planting more trees elsewhere.Guyana intends to use some of its REDD money to pay a property dealer from Florida to build a road and a major hydroelectric plant in some of its most densely forested areas. The argument here is that the project would supply a cleaner source of power to support the national grid. Nothing is mentioned about cutting down a large, wide swathe of the untouched rainforest for the project.Indonesia intends to impose a moratorium on the conversion of its forests to palm plantations,NFL Jerseys China, but only after 2013, allowing logging companies to ravage its forests until then. Other countries are setting the present rate of deforestation deliberately high or are ignoring all present logging, so that they can be paid to do nothing.The environment groups, which include Global Witness,Jerseys NFL China, Greenpeace International, Fern and Rainforest Foundation, also fear that REDD is being used by governments to victimise and steal the carbon rights of people who live and depend on the forests.Only last week, the Amerindian People’s Association in Guyana vindicated a warning issued by the World Bank that there was the potential of a clash over indigenous people’s land issues and the REDD plan.Last month a UK-based businessman was arrested on allegations of paying government officials and others in return for the emission rights on 20% of Liberia’s forests. Interpol has also warned that the chances are “very high” that criminal gangs would seek to take advantage. Peter Younger, Interpol environment crimes specialist and author of a report for the World Bank on illegal forestry, said: “Alarm bells are ringing. REDD is simply too big to monitor. The potential for criminality is vast and has not been taken into account.”Campaigners say countries intend to abuse system by pocketing billions in subsidies while continuing to fell trees. One warning signalled that while REDD is seen as the quickest and cheapest way of preventing change, it has given rise to “expensive and ill-conceived plans that fail to address the underlying causes of deforestation, and might make things worse. REDD needs to be taken out of the hands of the World Bank, and a new global institution [must be] established to rigorously oversee payments to tropical countries on the basis of the actual amount of logging or deforestation that is averted.”With four billion US dollars pledged last week to kick-start, a new report by Global Witness warns that the funds could do little to stem deforestation if governance and accountability are not improved and corruption tackled.To deal with problems of governance and corruption,Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping, Global Witness recommends creating a system for independent monitoring. Among the key principles of the system is for the programmes to be independent from national officials and private companies; an official mandate from participating nations for those monitoring progress; unhindered access to forest sites, open access to information, and a right to publish any findings. Global Witness warns that unless these basic steps are implemented into the REDD agreement, corruption and abuse will wreck the programme.Global Witness is an international NGO that works to break the links between natural resource exploitation, conflict, poverty,NBA Jerseys China, corruption, and human rights abuses worldwide. Global Witness states that it does not have any political affiliation. |
