Report: REDD freeze would be costly for PNG

PROPOSED climate policies could cost PNG 250,000 jobs and also deprive the government of almost K10 billion a year, according to a new report.
The report by Australian consultancy ITS Global warns that a proposed moratorium on forest conversion would cost the country almost K250 billion in lost revenue over the next 25 years.
The economic impacts of a moratorium would negatively affect the lives of more than 1.25 million people in PNG, it said.
Several countries are lobbying the PNG government to stop forest conversion to palm oil plantations.
The freeze is being promoted as part of REDD+ (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) programmes backed by international donor countries.
The key aim of REDD+ is to restrict tropical countries from converting forests in return for international “climate aid”.
This would severely limit the expansion of industries such as forestry and agriculture.
There was doubt if foreign aid would be able to compensate for lost revenue from restricting the conversion of forests to agricultural land.
The agriculture sector is widely regarded as a key driver of PNG’s development, while oil palm is the country’s best-performing agricultural crop with export earnings reaching K640 million in 2007 alone.
Other REDD+ recipient countries, such as Brazil and Indonesia, have already voiced concerns at the economic costs of introducing a large-scale moratorium.
Both countries had announced they would not implement complete forest moratoria.
Indonesian officials recently indicated that forest conversion restrictions would only apply to the granting of new concessions.
Brazil had indicated it would not introduce new conservation areas for reducing emissions.
The economic and social impact of restricting access to forests had been widely documented.
According to researchers from George Washington University and the World Bank, large-scale restrictions on forest resources in the Congo Basin had already displaced as many as 150,000 people.
The report comes as world leaders prepare to meet at the UN climate change conference in Cancun, Mexico, where negotiations are expected to focus on further developing the REDD+ scheme.