The Amazon; carbon credits, tipping point

[Lilith7]

Said last year to be reaching the tipping point, the Amazon may be used as a means of gaining carbon credits in a land grab.





https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60650415

[b]"The Amazon rainforest is moving towards a "tipping point" where trees may die off en masse, say researchers.[/b]

A study suggests the world's largest rainforest is losing its ability to bounce back from damage caused by droughts, fires and deforestation.
Large swathes could become sparsely forested savannah, which is much less efficient than tropical forest at sucking carbon dioxide from the air.


The giant forest traps carbon that would otherwise add to global warming.


But previous studies have shown that parts of the Amazon are now emitting more carbon dioxide than can be absorbed.
"The trees are losing health and could be approaching a tipping point - basically, a mass loss of trees," said Dr Chris Boulton of the University of Exeter.

The findings, based on three decades of satellite data, show alarming trends in the "health" of the Amazon rainforest.

There are signs of a loss of resilience in more than 75% of the forest, with trees taking longer to recover from the effects of droughts largely driven by climate change as well as human impacts such as deforestation and fires.

A vicious cycle of damage could trigger "dieback", the scientists said."



https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-66435166

[b]"This week, delegates arriving in Belém's international airport are being welcomed with a lively "Boi de mascara" folkloric dance routine. In fact, the whole city is celebrating being in the spotlight, playing host to the Amazon Summit.[/b]

It also feels like a bit of a warm-up for 2025 when the city hosts COP30. These two events are a big deal for this part of Brazil - a region that often feels forgotten. Belém's well-placed too, as the capital of Pará, the most deforested state in all of Brazil.

President Lula da Silva called this summit to bring together the eight South American countries who share a slice of the Amazon.

It's the first time in 45 years that there's been a meeting like this, ensuring a regional response to combat crime and deforestation as well as climate change.

"I think the world needs to look at this meeting in Belém as a milestone," Lula told the BBC last week.

"I've participated in several meetings and many times they talk, talk, talk, approve a document and nothing happens. This meeting is the first great opportunity for people to show the world what we want to do."



President Lula da Silva has promised to reverse rising deforestation seen under his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro. In July this year, deforestation fell 66% compared with 2022 and Lula's committed to zero deforestation by 2030.

"You have no idea how much pressure there was in our community from the Bolsonaro government," says Robson Gonçalves Machado, who lives on the banks of the River Acangatá. "Landowners circling in planes, soya farmers wanting to buy the land to deforest it."

While Pará is well-known as the epicentre of Brazil's deforestation, more recently it's also become an appealing prospect for another burgeoning forest industry - carbon credits.

The way it works is this: an organisation that pollutes can buy a credit which is worth one tonne of carbon dioxide - so for every tonne of CO2 emitted, the credit represents a tonne of CO2 that was captured.

Those credits are bought and sold and their prices are determined like any other market. With the World Bank estimating the carbon credit market in the forest is worth $210bn (£165bn) a year, there's huge potential.

Carbon credit companies operating in Ilha do Marajó have been accused of harassing people into contracts, pressuring people to be a part of their projects, without actually giving them much detail.

Pará's public prosecutor has since got involved to halt projects that have caused concern. The market still remains unregulated although Lula has promised to address this."