November 14, 2003 - Is pig iron the way to a better planet? The Canadian government apparently seems to think so. It's funding a bizarre project in Brazil to plant vast farms of eucalyptus trees, which will eventually be made into charcoal to produce pig iron - a low grade iron. Somehow along the way, this is supposed to slow global warming.
It won't. At best, it will do little to reduce the emission of heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere. At worst, it will continue to displace indigenous people, increase the use of agricultural chemicals in the region, compromise water quality and deplete water tables.
Canada's investment in the project grew from a feature in the Kyoto Protocol that allows developed countries to invest in projects in the developing world to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The developed country then gets what are called "carbon credits" for the project as though the emissions had been reduced at home. That makes sense, since the climate is a global system, and in some ways it makes little difference where reductions to heat-trapping gases take place.
What doesn't make sense is if the project is so convoluted and contrived that the reductions are negligible and the project actually causes more problems than it solves. Such is the case in Brazil. There, a company called Plantar bought a massive piece of land and began displacing the indigenous people who lived there so it could plant row upon row of eucalyptus trees, which are destined to eventually become charcoal. This was the company's plan from the outset.
So when Plantar found out about the carbon credit system, it was like finding money. It moved to be the first in the developing world to have a project accredited as a "carbon sink," and thus qualify for funding. In theory, the fast-growing eucalyptus trees will extract carbon from the air and store it in wood, which will reduce the burden of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and slow global warming.
But the project was already underway and the whole point of the credit system under the Kyoto Protocol is to achieve emission reductions that would not otherwise have been made. Surely, this project should not qualify. Furthermore, the thirsty eucalyptus plantation has been found to be depleting water resources of local communities and compromising water quality due to the extensive use of chemicals. In fact, local groups have been fighting Plantar and the project for some time. More than 70 Brazilian community organizations oppose the project and have asked Canada to stop supporting it.
Canada has already invested $15 million into a World Bank fund supporting the Plantar scheme and, unfortunately, it seems to be looking for similar projects in which to invest. At negotiations next month in Milan over the rules of the Kyoto Protocol, Canada is expected to lobby against a specific screening system to weed out controversial and ineffective projects like Plantar.
That's to bad because such cheap schemes make a mockery of the importance of the Kyoto Protocol. I was one of Prime Minister Chrétien's biggest supporters when he adopted the Protocol and the federal government deserves credit for making it happen. But that hard work will go up in smoke if projects like this are allowed to continue while Canada continues on our polluting ways.
By reducing most of our emissions within Canada, Canadians will receive added benefits like cleaner air, more efficient and competitive businesses, and reduced reliance on dirty fuels. Carbon credits and emissions trading have their place, but not if they reduce the overall effectiveness of the Kyoto treaty. It would be a big mistake for Canada to pursue such dubious tactics.
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