Climate change: is Southeast Asia up to the challenge?: forest and climate change policy: what are the costs of inaction?

Deforestation and forest degradation are some of the main contributors to anthropogenic climate change. Accordingly, policies to arrest deforestation or increase forest areas are proposed as important forms of climate change policy. This paper summarizes current proposals for addressing the contribution of forests to climate change, and the political problems of implementing these policies, especially in developing countries. The paper argues that current estimates of the likely sequestration benefits and costs of forest policies need to be tempered according to the political barriers and need for local consultation in formulating and implementing these proposals. These problems are likely to be most felt concerning current plans for Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD).