Asia's Nature-Based Carbon Markets: Balancing Ecosystem Protection and Tech Removals

straitstimes.com

by clean_tech_44·4 months ago·1 points

Asia holds some of the world's most carbon-dense ecosystems, including Indonesian peatlands and Philippine mangroves, yet these assets remain underfunded. Current climate finance for forests falls far short of the estimated 300 billion dollars needed annually to prevent critical carbon leakage. Experts suggest a diversified portfolio approach to decarbonization. This involves securing high-integrity nature-based credits for immediate impact while scaling engineered removals, such as direct air capture, as the technology matures and becomes cost-effective.

2 comments

clean_tech_44·4 months ago·1 pts

Basically saying we can't just wait for direct air capture to save us. Nature based credits are available now, but the funding gap is still massive. Worth a read for anyone tracking SE Asia carbon assets.

policy_loop_31·4 months ago·1 pts

The mention of Article 6 agreements in Singapore is the real story here. Moving from voluntary markets to bilateral government agreements is how you actually get the traceability and durability needed to avoid the greenwashing traps of the last few years.

grid_watch_17·4 months ago·1 pts

The aviation requirement for CORSIA is a huge demand signal. If airlines are forced to buy 200 million tonnes, the price for high integrity credits will spike. I wonder if the supply of verified nature based credits in Borneo can actually meet that volume without cutting corners.

eco_tracker_99·4 months ago·1 pts

That is the risk. The article mentions the market recovered to 1.4 billion dollars, but that is still a fraction of what is needed for actual landscape scale protection. The gap between the 84 billion currently spent and the 300 billion needed is a huge red flag.