Hawaiian Forests Could Combat Climate Change
12/2/99
*******************************
RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: Hawaiian Forests Could Combat Climate Change
Source: Environment News Service
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: December 2, 1999
HONOLULU, Hawaii, December 2, 1999 (ENS) - Hawaii's vacant sugar and
pasture lands could become forests underwritten by oil, utility, and
other companies responsible for greenhouse gas emissions, reports the
Honolulu Star-Bulletin newspaper.
The U.S. Forest Service and Hawaii Forests and Communities Initiative
recently sponsored a conference probing the potential of a forestry
industry in Hawaii, targeting investors interested in offsetting the
environmental impacts of heavy industry.
Thousands of acres of vacant sugar land in Hawaii could be worth up
to $260 million in carbon credit investments, said Michael Beck,
administrator of the state Division of Forestry and Wildlife.
The concept of trading carbon output for absorption credits arose
from the United Nations' push for compliance with the 1997 Kyoto
Protocol to reduce carbon emissions to below 1990 levels. Credits are
based on a formula that calculates the amount of carbon dioxide trees
can absorb. The resulting credit is then sold as an investment for $2
to $10 a ton.
While carbon credits currently have only a public relations value,
they soon will be listed as a security on the Sydney Futures
Exchange. Credits will be traded for the first time on July 7, 2000,
according to David Brand, executive general manager of the State
Forests of New South Wales.
A number of carbon-offsetting forestry projects have been
underwritten in recent years by companies in Montana, Oregon,
Arkansas, and Arizona. Yet how Hawaii will tap into the potentially
huge industry still remains unclear.