Many countries are interested in addressing climate change and promoting green growth. But lack of information on associated costs and benefits (including the potential welfare and development impacts of climate change mitigation and adaptation measures) make it difficult for countries to take effective action.  Development consultant Dominic Elson presented a report commissioned by the UK Climate Change Unit of the British Embassy, Jakarta, that seeks to address some this knowledge gap in the case of Indonesia. Elson found that Indonesia could stand to gain by changing its '...

The World Bank Institute which shares knowledge related to poverty reduction has recently published online a training manual for estimating REDD+ opportunity costs. The theory behind REDD+ and terms of art like “carbon dioxide equivalents” or “net present value” are demystified in accessible terms and helpful graphs. The guide is intended for “professionals within governments, universities, research institutions, international or non-governmental organizations and program developers who may use the presented methods and tools to estimate opportunity costs...

The current issue of Arbor Vitae, IUCN’s Forest Conservation Program newsletter, focuses on communicating forest values beyond the usual circle of experts and policy makers. The sound of chainsaws and dramatic images of clearcut land do a good job of stressing the need for conservation among the general public but do little to spread an understanding of forests as a sustainable resource, or to inspire people to restore degraded land.   Laurie Bennett, one of the newsletter's contributors, argues that positive messages are more effective than scare tactics to engage...

As the UN celebrated today the launch of the International Year of Forests, a story in The Telegraph popped on our screens with stark images of deforestation and pollution. "We sped across the jungle along a narrow manmade path. (...) A sharp turn of the wheel later and the trees vanished, replaced by a vast desert dotted with shacks covered in blue plastic sheets where thousands of miners live. We were at the heart of a 21st-century gold rush that, environmentalists warn, is rapidly destroying the Amazon’s Madre de Dios (Mother of God) region in south-east Peru, 33,000 square...