UN Seeks to Cut Back on Deforestation and Global Warming

April 3, 2008 - There are several human activities that contribute to global warming. These days, fossil-fueled activities are certainly the largest contributing factor. Another less obvious activity is deforestation, which in addition to displacing many living things, including humanity's own connection with Nature, drastically interferes with the Earth's natural mechanism of removing Carbon Dioxide from the atmosphere and replacing it with Oxygen.

But it doesn't end here. In actuality, even more of a greater contributor to global warming is a bi-product, or rather, means of deforestation. It's called slash 'n burn, and it contributes to 20% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. Now, the UN is seriously looking at ways to cut back on deforestation (and consequently, emissions) to include in a climate treaty succeeding the Kyoto Protocol set to expire come 2013.

Just like cash incentive solar panel installation has encouraged many homeowners in the U.S. to green up their residences (depending on the City and State), the general opinion at a U.N climate conference help last December in Bali, Indonesia, is that the best way to encourage countries to cut back on deforestation is to offer them rewards.

Thus far, most of the deforestation concerns point to countries where major rainforests are sustaining the most slash 'n burn practices, such as Brazil and Ecuador. In regards to rewards and incentives, this would mean that other countries who've either already maintained adequate rainforest coverage or who've already drastically cut back on deforestation, such as Costa Rica and Chile, would stand to gain little. In other words, as things stand now, there is more work will be needed to develop a fairer incentive system.

Optimism is on the front, however, since more countries are more willing than ever before to do something about deforestation and global warming. As studies now show, it takes only a 10% decline in global deforestation to remove approximately 300 million tons of carbon dioxide emission from the atmosphere in a single year and could generate anywhere from $2-14 billion in carbon finance for developing nations.

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