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| | | Title | How Much Should the World Pay for the Congo Forest’s Carbon Removal? | | Author | Ian Mitchell; Samuel Pleeck | | Subject | Climate, Energy, and Environment, Climate Finance, Tropical Forests for Development | | Date of Publication | 2022 | | Publisher | Center for Global Development | | Number of Pages | 10 | | Abstract | We find that, under conservative assumptions about the social cost of carbon, forests provide a valuable service to the world. We estimate the value of carbon removal at $770 billion a year, equivalent to around 1 percent of global output (GDP). Deforestation works in the opposite direction, significantly offsetting around half of this effect. As the largest tropical rainforest acting as a significant carbon absorber, the Congo Basin forest provides a service to the world by removing carbon from the atmosphere with a value of $55 billion per year, equivalent to 36 percent of the GDP of the six countries that are home to the forest (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon). This asset can and should be seen as akin to mineral or oil deposits that have significant benefits for the countries that host them. The mining sector represented 29 percent of DRC’s GDP in 2018 and oil rents represented 32 percent of Congo’s GDP in 2021. | | Filesize | 508373 MB | | File Format | PDF | | [ View / download original document ] |
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