Today’s New York Times has an article about the travesty of deforestation in Indonesia. According to the article, western companies are cutting down Indonesian forests for the production of several items including biodiesel, which is an eco-friendly alternative to oil. This process of deforestation releases significant amounts of carbon dioxide into the environment, and therefore gravely affects the local community. The international community is considering implementing a carbon-trading plan - a process whereby wealthy countries pay developing countries for the latter’s allotment of carbon emissions - to mitigate this problem.

To a student of international development, the facts presented in this article have some staggering implications:

 - Biodiesel is supposed to be a sustainable alternative to oil; however, the effect of deforestation from biodiesel manufacture belies its sustainability, and this has serious environmental implications. As we discover “sustainable alternatives” to anything (be it oil, paper, plastic, etc), we need to be mindful of the detrimental effects that the production of such items has on the environment, and whether these effects reduce the product’s sustainability.-

-  Indonesia is the world’s 14th largest emitter of carbon, ahead of wealthy countries (France, Spain, and Australia) and steadily developing countries (Brazil).  Aside from the wealthiest countries, the world’s largest carbon-emitters are countries experiencing steady industrial development (China, India, and Mexico, for instance).   Indonesia is neither wealthy nor is it experiencing industrial development anywhere near that of India or China.  This means that Indonesia is using up a lot of carbon space but not reaping the vast development benefits this should entail.

- On the surface carbon-trading seems like an economical move: it provides the wealthy country with incentive to cut back its emissions while simultaneously incorporating the developing country into the international market. However, industrial development necessitates increased carbon emissions. If wealthy countries buy a poor country out of its carbon emission allotment, the poor country will not have a chance to develop industrially.

Something tells me we’re not going to solve these problems today, but we can provide you with ways to make a positive impact on the environment and change the lives of Indonesians:

Help Women Regenerate Degraded Natural Resources

Indonesian Ecological Restoration and Education

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