Emissions reduction

Although climate change wasn’t discussed much in the 2016 presidential election, this time around it’s turning out to be a much hotter topic. Greenpeace has created a scorecard to help voters understand where each candidate currently stands on the climate crisis.

The REDD program, facilitated by the United Nations, seeks to preserve crucial forests using financial incentives and markets. But in four years since opening shop in Indonesia, the program has struggled to make a meaningful start.

Catastrophic global warming can be staved off if humans can keep the climate from warming more than two degrees Celsius, and emit less than 565 Gigatons of carbon dioxide, some scientists believe. But environmentalist Bill McKibben says that’s not enough.

Protecting forests could play a critical role in the fight against climate change. Many of the world’s nations are banking on a scheme called REDD which puts a price on trees so they’re more valuable standing than cut down. Living on Earth continues its series “REDD Path to a Green Planet” with a visit to Central Africa. Producers Alex Chadwick and Christopher Johnson travel to the Congo Basin and find a forest that’s largely untouched and biologically rich and diverse. Some environmentalists and investors are betting that big money can be made in the emerging global carbon market if the region’s trees are protected.