Is R.E.D.D. the right way? Int'l climate talks highlight forestry issues in developing countries

Climate-change talks underway this week in Poland are looking at the role of forests in drafting a new global agreement to fight global warming. Scientists and environmentalists want mechanisms to reward the developing world for saving its forests incorporated into any such treaty. Other groups oppose the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (R.E.D.D.) approach, and say that the developing world has a right to boost its economic development through forestry. One such group, World Growth, disputes that deforestation is generating nearly 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, and argues that when timber is processed into wood products or paper, as the majority of logged timber is, the carbon remains stored. [Read "How Forestry Can Reduce Both Climate Change Emissions and Poverty" from World Growth here.]