ECUADOR, INDONESIA TO SEEK COMPENSATION FOR PRESERVING RAIN FORESTS
AOL News - November 26, 2007JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Ecuador's president said Monday he would join Indonesia and other rain forest nations in demanding compensation if they help reduce global warming by refusing to clear or burn trees.
Some experts say deforestation in the developing world is responsible for up to 20 percent of annual emissions of carbon dioxide, largely because it is released into the air during land-clearing.
At the same time, trees are believed to play a key role in absorbing emissions.
President Rafael Correa and his Indonesian counterpart, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, contended that rich nations should provide incentives to those who preserve rain forests, which are being cleared at an extraordinary rate to meet global demand for cheap timber and palm oil.
"We are providing very valuable goods ... but we are receiving nothing for our people, for our countries," Correa said ahead of the U.N. Climate Change conference on Indonesia's resort island of Bali.
World leaders will start negotiations next month on a replacement to the Kyoto protocol, which expires in 2012. Among the proposals being discussed are programs that allow countries that cut back on deforestation to earn carbon credits, which can later be traded.
Source: AOL News - news.aol.com