International policy issues on carbon fluxes and forests in the South

Abstract

Global warming is a problem for everybody—the rich and the poor. the North and the South. Cooperation and participation aiming at the control of carbon emissions are essential. and solutions should not be restricted to a specific group of countries. Nevertheless. equity principles cannot be ignored. Therefore, the north-south agenda for cooperation should be based on fairness. There is no positive advancement if the problem of greenhouse gases is controlled at the cost of increasing disparity between developed and developing countries. This chapter discussed the use of economic instruments (carbon taxes. offsets and tradable permits) in the control of CO, emissions. Economic instruments have a crucial role in efficient cooperation between developed and developing countries. The preservation of tropical forests as carbon pools can be encouraged if the industrialized countries provide economic incentives to import’ these environmental services which today are given for free. However. there are important limitations to be considered. Allocation of emission rights, definition of compensation values, the possibility of free riding by non-cooperative countries, enforcement, settlement of disputes, and other concrete problems are important institutional difficulties in the implementation of multilateral programs. Despite the considerable advances made in recent times. research of these topics remains a crucial issue.