Region Archives: International

Forest carbon credits, which pay governments and private landowners to conserve carbon-rich forests as a way to slow climate change, face mounting criticism for being less effective than advertised. Brazil’s top climate official is pushing back on their dubious reputation… In Brazil, fighting deforestation is synonymous with fighting climate change. The country has about 60% forest cover and is home to the majority of the Amazon rainforest. More than half of Brazil’s emissions are tied to changes in land use and deforestation… Companies, governments and others can sell forest carbon credits to groups looking to offset their own emissions. But the credits have not always worked as intended: Investigations have pointed to flawed accounting and exaggerated claims.

Human activities have directly and indirectly fueled the spread of zoonotic diseases. Long-distance travel, for example, has transported not just people but diseases to new locations… Our decimation of the environment is another cause of the increase. Deforestation means humans can more easily venture into habitats where they might encounter animals that are acting as disease reservoirs, and the destruction of biodiverse areas for large-scale monoculture farms allows pathogens to spread more quickly. Deforestation in the Amazon basin, which brings human settlements to the edge of the rainforest, increases malaria transmission, with disease risk increasing by 3.3% for every 10% increase in forest clearing. And in sub-Saharan Africa, irrigation schemes, which create standing water, as well as dam construction, have also intensified the malaria threat.

Researchers are warning against a recent proposal by Australia’s forestry industry to remove trees from native forests, potentially including national parks, to claim carbon credits… Forestry Australia’s proposal includes activities like adaptive harvesting and forest thinning in national parks, state forests, and private land, with land managers being rewarded with carbon credits… and argues that the method would make ecosystems more resilient and help fight climate change. However, decades of scientific research suggest that the proposal could have the opposite effect… Studies show that practices like “adaptive harvesting” and “forest thinning” can make forests more fire-prone, degrade forest health, and release carbon during tree removal, undermining any intended climate benefits. Moreover, Australia’s declining biodiversity and emissions-reduction goals are at risk if native forests are harvested further.

Changes that used to take place over hundreds or even 1000 years are now taking place in a lifetime… Rather than mutely accepting that climate change will transform our landscapes for the worse, Parks Victoria is entering into a new approach in collaboration with the United States National Park Service and Geological Survey. There, officials have adopted a new approach to climate change: the Resist, Accept, Direct (RAD) framework… In the local version, rangers will look to triage Victoria’s landscapes and locations into areas where resistance can be strengthened; areas where we have to accept that changes are unstoppable (for example coastal inundation, with sea level rises unlikely to retreat); and areas that have already changed.

The development of a carbon credit market in Việt Nam faces significant challenges, primarily due to unclear regulations. While businesses recognise the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and are eager to participate in the market, they are hindered by management and monitoring systems that require further improvement…  The draft project for developing Việt Nam’s carbon market from 2025 to 2028 outlines a pilot programme set to run nationwide. By 2029, the market is expected to officially launch, with preparations underway to connect it to regional and global platforms… The Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) project helped the forestry sector achieve nearly 57 million tonnes of CO2 emissions reductions from 2014 to 2018.

LONDON — New independently verified figures from the Wood Recyclers’ Association (WRA) have shown the big part the waste wood industry has to play in reducing carbon emissions. The figures have revealed that waste wood biomass – which makes up roughly two thirds of the UK market for waste wood – saved almost three-quarters of a million (701,000) tonnes of carbon emissions in 2023 when compared to the likely displaced energy generation. These savings could be increased to 3.6 million tonnes of carbon savings if these plants were fitted with carbon capture and storage technology (CCS). This could represent 16% of the government’s target to capture 23MtCO2/year by 2035. …The carbon data represents the culmination of two years of work by the WRA’s Net Zero working group, which aimed to quantify the carbon benefits that the waste wood sector provides in addition to its contribution to the circular economy. 

Researchers at Kobe University have developed a novel test substrate that allows the first-ever measurement of the speed and mechanism of a fungal enzyme that breaks down wood, paving the way for improved biofuel and biochemical production. In an advance for biofuel and biochemical research, scientists at Kobe University have successfully measured the speed and characterized the mechanism of a fungal enzyme crucial for breaking down wood. This achievement, made possible by the development of a new test substrate, opens doors for more efficient conversion of wood into valuable materials like bioplastics, pharmaceuticals, and renewable fuels. …Using their newly developed substrate, the research team was able to observe the isolated enzyme’s action in a near-natural setting for the first time. …This research, published in the journal Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, represents a significant step towards the industrial application of wood-decomposing enzymes. 

Mesoamerica is one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots—with only half a percent of the world’s land area, it is home to seven percent of the world’s biodiversity… In the first year of this project, 181 hectares (447 acres) were planted in agroforestry systems and 966 hectares (2,387 acres) of forest were placed into payments for ecosystem services programs. These projects highlight the importance of working with local communities to find creative solutions that not only protect forests and support carbon sequestration but also provide livelihoods for people living near protected areas. Developing alternatives to activities that deforest or degrade large forests is essential for healthy, productive forests that store carbon, generate other ecosystem services, and provide for surrounding communities.

The Central African subregion, which mainly comprises the Congo Basin, is home to one of the world’s largest expanses of tropical rainforest. It is a haven for an exceptionally diverse range of plant and animal species and provides essential ecosystem services. According to the State of the Forests (SOF) 2021 report published by the Central Africa Forest Observatory (OFAC), these forests sequester around 40 gigatons of carbon annually. That’s roughly equivalent to the total carbon emissions that humans produce annually. These ecosystems face numerous challenges. Deforestation, primarily driven by slash-and-burn agriculture, illegal logging, infrastructure expansion and agro-industrial development, threatens the region’s biodiversity. Population growth, poaching and inadequate conservation measures also endanger fragile habitats and endemic species. The SOF 2021 report warns that 27% of these forests could disappear by 2050 without urgent intervention.