Can Nepal Benefit from Forest Carbon Financing? An Assessment of Opportunities, Challenges and Possible Actions

Climate change and carbon financing issues have been very much hyped in contemporary debate, even more so as the world prepares for the Conference of the Parties (CoP) 15 to be held at Copenhagen in December 2009. In this process, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) has been proposed as a carbon financing mechanism and debated as an instrument within the regulated and / or voluntary carbon markets. This has raised the hopes of countries like Nepal, a pioneer in Community Forestry, that they will be compensated for their contributions to forest conservation, carbon sequestration and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. In this context, this publication promises to be a valuable contribution to educate and prepare different stakeholders to reap the benefits from such global instruments. The book focuses on the global context of carbon financing, related emerging opportunities and Nepal-specific analysis of the forestry sector, national policy issues and opportunities to influence the REDD process with relevant case studies. In the book, the authors have undertaken a comprehensive review of different mechanisms of carbon financing, with different country experiences and also offer valuable policies and programme specific recommendations.