Investors plan to use 2 million hectares of the Far Eastern forest to implement a program to protect it from fires and pests. This will allow them to receive a carbon credit – a quota that can be sold in the future, the head of the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East, Alexei Chekunkov, told Izvestia.
Now the department is finalizing a system that will automatically assess the level of CO2 absorption for each quarter of the forest.
“Investors will be able to lease the forest not for felling, but to protect it from fires and pests and to further sell the carbon quota. There are more than 1.1 billion hectares of forest in Russia, of which about 560 million hectares are in the Far Eastern Federal District. According to expert estimates, the Far Eastern forests absorb about 180-200 million tons of CO2 annually, which is comparable to the volume of emissions in some countries. At the moment, a number of investors are already implementing pilot projects aimed at bringing 2 million hectares of forest into circulation, ”the minister said.
Annual revenue for 1 ton of CO2 absorbed annually can range from $ 2 to $ 40. On average, 1 ha of forest recycles 5 tons of CO2 per year. Even if part of the Far Eastern forests are involved in photosynthesis, the revenue could reach several billion dollars a year, government sources said.
It is still difficult to estimate the possible income, Ildar Neverov, the public business ombudsman for environmental relations and ecology, told Izvestia. However, if Russia does not integrate into the European system, then it will lose up to $ 7 billion annually.
Read more in the exclusive material from Izvestia:
Attention and absorption: for the sake of carbon quotas, the business will take 2 million hectares of forest