Indonesian government approves, verifies 64,000-hectare Rimba Raya REDD+ forest carbon project in Borneo, expects to reduce CO2 emissions by 119 million tons over 30 years by avoiding conversion to oil palm plantations, drainage of peatlands

Wendy Lisney

DUNEDIN, New Zealand , June 14, 2013 (Friday Offcuts) – Rimba Raya, the world's largest REDD+ project, has finally been approved by the Indonesian government and verified under the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), a leading certification standard for carbon credits.

The 64,000-hectare forest carbon project in Indonesia's Central Kalimantan Province on the island of Borneo is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 119 million tons over its 30-year life-span. The emissions reductions will come from avoiding drainage of area's carbon dense peat lands and conversion of its forests to oil palm plantations.

According to SCS Global Services, the auditor that verified the project's carbon accounting, Rimba Raya reduced emissions by 2.1 million tons between July 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010, resulting in the largest-ever number of Verified Carbon Units (VCUs) generated in a single year.

Now approved, Rimba Raya may provide a green light to other REDD+ project developers in Indonesia. Meanwhile, Rimba Raya's backers, including Russian energy giant Gazprom and the insurance firm Allianz, can now sell tradable carbon credits in the voluntary carbon market. Credits in the voluntary carbon market are typically used by companies to "offset" their greenhouse gas emissions for corporate social responsibility programs, rather than complying with climate regulations.

Source: The Guardian

* All content is copyrighted by Industry Intelligence, or the original respective author or source. You may not recirculate, redistrubte or publish the analysis and presentation included in the service without Industry Intelligence's prior written consent. Please review our terms of use.