Halting global deforestation via carbon credits: an overview of our approach in 4C

Prof Srinivasan Keshav (@ProfKeshav) is using computer science to move towards a sustainable future through clean energy and environmental conservation. He is a co-director of 4C - the Cambridge Centre for Carbon Credits - and the Robert Sansom Professor of Computer Science in the Department of Computer Science and Technology at the University of Cambridge.

The world is facing two major crises: a climate crisis and a biodiversity crisis. While the former is now very familiar with the public, fewer people know about the latter. The biodiversity crisis refers to the dramatic loss of species globally due to human activities – the two most important of which are habitat loss and climate change.

Preserving forests can help to tackle both these crises in conjunction – it prevents carbon dioxide from leaving the trees and retains biodiversity. Nowhere is this more important than in tropical rainforests, where a large fraction of the world’s biodiversity exists and which are still relatively intact habitats compared to other parts of the planet.

How do we prevent deforestation? We believe we need to pay for it. If someone who lives near the forest decides it is economically beneficial to cut the trees and sell it for timber, and then raise cattle on the plot, then they will most likely do so – especially if that person is one of the millions around the world in poverty. However, if we can pay them not to convert their land, then that will balance the scales and incentivise protection of the forest.

Thanks for this summary to James Miller, student environmentalist and film-maker.