7 Nov 2006

Greenpeace PNG says government lying over carbon-trading credits

8:01 pm on 7 November 2006

Greenpeace Papua New Guinea says the government is lying to the international community about its commitment to ending deforestation.

PNG could earn hundreds of millions of dollars for reducing its rainforest destruction if the carbon-trading initiative it proposed last year makes headway this week at the UN Climate Talks in Kenya.

Under the initiative, countries are rewarded with carbon credits for reducing the emissions of carbon dioxide, a gas of which potent amounts are released into the atmosphere in deforestation.

Greenpeace's Dorothy Tekwie says she doesn't know which tracts of forest the Somare government plans to use for carbon trade because they've already committed most of it to logging.

"They're actually lying to the international community about what is actually here. There's not going to be much to trade off for carbon trade because they have already given those concession rights to logging companies after the ten high impact projects have gone through. So there is going to be nothing left."

Greenpeace's Dorothy Tekwie