Carbon-Based Conservation Strategies in Latin America: An Innovative Tool for Financing Environmental Conservation

Abstract

Climate change is now underway and is likely to have far-reaching impacts on the global environment and human welfare. While addressing this problem will require a fundamental transformation in energy use, carbon sequestration (i.e., storage) strategies can also play an important role. These strategies include preserving threatened forests and promoting ecosystem restoration of degraded lands. Such strategies not only help to address climate change but also contribute significantly to conserving the earth's highly threatened forest ecosystems and biological diversity (“biodiversity”) – resources which are critical to human prosperity and survival. The Nature Conservancy has pioneered forest carbon sequestration projects in Latin America. The largest such project, Noel Kempff Climate Action Project in Bolivia, is described in detail, including some of the major design issues and challenges. The article concludes with a brief discussion of why the insurance industry might be motivated to participate in carbon sequestration strategies.