Scolel Té: a case of indigenous farmers participating in the international market for carbon services.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has identified a likely gap of around 800 million tC per year between the greenhouse gas emissions of industrialized (Annex 1) countries under a “business as usual scenario” and the commitments that these countries have signed up to for the first commitment period (2008-2012) under the Kyoto Protocol (IPCC, 2000). Part of this gap is likely to be covered by emission reductions derived from projects undertaken in developing countries through an instrument known as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). According to Article 12 of the Kyoto Protocol, CDM projects are supposed to contribute to the sustainable development objectives of the host countries, and in many cases this will include poverty reduction or livelihood improvement in rural areas. Since afforestation and reforestation are among the activities that are eligible under the CDM, this gives rise to a number of important questions: