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Cash to save the rainforests

As the UN Climate talks come to a head, we look at schemes to get poor countries not to chop down their rainforests. But some are being paid and are chopping anyway. Can the scheme be made to work?

As the UN Climate talks reach a key stage, we look at the financial incentives aimed at getting poor countries not to chop down their rainforests, on which the global climate depends.

We hear about a pilot scheme set up by Norway, in which it pays the South American country, Guyana, Β£30m a year to preserve its forests. The trouble is, preliminary indicators from the Rainforest Foundation UK, a campaign group, suggest that Guyana has chopped down more, not less, during the first year of the project.

A Norwegian government adviser defends the scheme, and says that the future war on climate change depends on initiatives like this.

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18 minutes

Last on

Thu 2 Dec 2010 08:32GMT

Broadcast

  • Thu 2 Dec 2010 08:32GMT

Podcast