Presentation on MDBs and IFIs

Today was a great day. Aside from watching the season finale of Glee (no, I actually do not follow it), I gave a good presentation, did a lot of work, ate good food, and viewed a beautiful house I will potentially live it for the next two months. Andrew goes to Vietnam tomorrow leaving only the interns in the office, so the girls will dominate. The world.

The REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) Programme figured prominently in our conversations today. The irony of an initiative that is meant for good, but vehemently opposed by organizations that in fact care profoundly for the forests-- REDD indeed has the potential to create divisions amongst groups and individuals that otherwise agree on most things. In short, the programme has a strong conservation philosophy, where economic value is given to the carbon stored in standing forests, thus giving more incentive for leaving forests intact. However, there is strong tension between conservationists and indigenous peoples, the latter thus being some of the strongest opponents of REDD. Conservation is officially 'scientific' and focused only on biodiversity, such that the forest-dependent people are pushed out of the picture. Result? Displacement of indigenous populations in the name of conservation- out of their very own homes.

Such is the complexity of progressive initiatives. There is always the debate over whether something (a policy, a programme) should exist even if it is not perfect. Criticism will always be heard, devil's advocates will always be around, but should these be a reason for not taking action? Take for example the Kerry-Lieberman climate bill which met with a lot of resistance for having excluded many clauses, slowing it down from being taken into effect. In this case, what would the alternative be? No climate bill, no climate regulation, no real action being taken! Even if it were imperfect, it should have been passed even if just to start the ball rolling on climate action in this country.

Bringing it back to REDD: what is the alternative to not encouraging countries to stop deforestation? Continued deforestation. But in this case the costs are high- the indigenous people suffer. As the Brazilian saying goes, 'the hole goes so much deeper.' There are so many profound issues surrounding REDD, making it a fascinating conversation.