1 February 2010:  The latest issue of the International Tropical Timber Organization's (ITTO) newsletter, Tropical Forest Update,  includes an article that questions whether payments for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD) can make natural forests competitive with oil palm plantations.

http://climate-l.org/2010/02/02/itto-newsletter-examines-the-competitiveness-of-redd-and-oil-palm/

A forest carbon developer has claimed the first validation of a reforestation project to the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS), using the opportunity to argue for what it sees as the critical role for forest planting in a sector where attention is turning very much to avoided deforestation, or REDD.

Green Resources is currently developing two reforestation projects in Tanzania, one at Mapanda and Uchindele to the VCS, and another at Idete under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). It's been involved in forest carbon investment in eastern and southern Africa since 1997.

http://www.carbonpositive.net/viewarticle.aspx?articleID=1862

by Rhett A. Butler

Lack of a clear framework and rules for a proposed climate change mitigation mechanism known as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) could jeopardize its effectiveness and put forest-dependent communities at risk of exploitation, cautions a new report released by an environmental rights policy group.

In "THE END OF THE HINTERLAND: Forests, Conflict and Climate Change", the Washington-based Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) warns that without clear rules to address land tenure and forests rights issues, REDD could increase conflict by boosting the perceived value of forest land. Forest communities - which have much to gain under a well-designed and well-implemented mechanism - are particularly at risk.

http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0126-redd.html

The UK government has launched the second phase of its Carbon Offsetting Facility (GCOF II), which will offset emissions resulting from government air travel and potentially other emissions created by public sector organizations.

It will cover emissions generated in the period April 2009 to March 2012. There is the possibility of extending it to March 2013.

http://www.newstatesman.com/energy-and-clean-tech/2010/01/government-emissions-carbon

UK targets for cutting carbon emissions by 2050 will not be met without radical changes to the engineering of buildings, a report says.

One of the study's authors criticised the government's "woeful track record on setting ill-considered targets".

The Royal Academy of Engineering report lays out a groundwork for reducing the environmental impact of new buildings as well as refurbishment of old ones. It added there was a serious skills gap in the sector that could grow worse.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8469070.stm

Global low carbon policies will become a reality, after the UK government and an Arab institute joined forces to fund research.

The department for energy and climate change (DECC) will co-operate with the Masdar Institute from the UAE to support RENA, an international body that advises nations on renewable energy legislation.

Ed Miliband, minister for the department, said: "These two new collaborative projects are examples of exactly the type of global collaborative effort that we must encourage to tackle climate change problems."

http://www.lowcarboneconomy.com/community_content/_low_carbon_news/8438/uk_and_uae_to_fund_1m_research_into_low_carbon_policies