Many of those hunting for a redeeming outcome to Copenhagen have seized on REDD, the Reduced Emissions through Avoided Deforestation and Degradation plan that offers financial incentives to forest-rich countries in exchange for the long term commitment to protect and restore their forested lands.
It appears that the decision by the delegates to move forward on REDD — coupled with the U.S. pledge of $1 billion as part of a $3.5 billion scheme towards slowing deforestation — offers a ray of hope for economically destitute, but forest-rich countries.
The prospect of increased attention paid to forests in developing countries has made us wonder about some of the possible unanticipated outcomes. Although we blogged about these before, we didn’t touch on the commercial implications for charcoal exporting nations. So we decided to undertake a thoroughly unscientific research of this issue on the internet and this it what came up:
Squeezing Charcoal out of REDD
A survey of charcoal for sale on the international market reveals it is widely available in large quantities for export. The main traders appear to be located in Nigeria and Egypt, although China, Thailand, Brazil, Ghana, Cameroon, Mexico, and Argentina also figure prominently. For the most part the woods offered for sale are described as hardwood, though a Thai trader was offering mangrove-sourced wood. 
Among the species for sale are Casuarina (Egypt), acacia from India, unspecified hardwoods from China, oak and mesquite from Mexico, and something called quebracho blanco from Argentina. Most traders described their wood suitable for barbecues but also for fueling pig iron smelters. The minimum order consisted of 2 x 40ft containers, which can hold approximately 20,800 kg (46,000 lbs. US) per container.
Actual advertisement spotted during our research
In terms of global volume of charcoal exported, the UN’s FAO reports that in 2007, some 1.35 million tonnes of charcoal worth about $400 million USD were shipped around the world. The price of a ton of charcoal seems to vary depending on type and source and terms of sale. But in general it seems to hover around $300 per ton. With the exception of one seller who described his product as coming from a “wild native” forest, none of the other traders indicated the source of their raw material, ie: wood.
The Disclaimer
As far as I know there is absolutely no indication of any type of irregular or illegal activity. But, given the volumes being discussed, I think it is fair to ask where the supply chain of charcoal vendors sources their wood, especially when they originate in countries with known wood charcoal shortage problems. Under these circumstances, couldn’t the case be made for a certification program, similar to FSC or SFI, that would apply to charcoal? Or perhaps some type of tariff and trade protocol for charcoal and wood fuel?
The Persisting Doubt
Assuming an efficiency ratio of 25% for wood to charcoal conversion, the global export market in charcoal represents approximately 5,400,000 tones of wood chopped down somewhere by someone. (Does anyone know how many tons of wood alone are consumed each year as biomass fuel?)
The questions I ask myself go something like this: is this an issue at all? Where is this wood coming from? What impact is it having locally on the charcoal and woodfuel market? Does the international charcoal market need some type of regulation? Will REDD payments to countries go to subsidize the production of charcoal elsewhere for the global charcoal market? What measures are contemplated in a draft REDD accord to deal with this? And, finally, who is going to take this on as an issue?
Happy Monday!
Kim
Addendum:
I did find one document issued by the World Agroforestry Centre in 2006 titled Lessons Learned from the Unsustainable Charcoal Business in East Africa. It states the problem and solutions in the region as follows: 
Reliable information and estimates of charcoal production, trade and use or its impact on forest and woodland cover in most African countries are not available. However, recent case studies — for example, in Tanzania (Malimbwi, et. al., 2001), Mozambique (Pereira et. al., 2001), Madagascar (CIRAD, 1999) and Kenya (ESDA, 2005) — show increasing use. This is as a result of a combination of many factors that include increasing population, rapid urbanization and a shift to charcoal use by urban dwellers. High profits from charcoal have also contributed to the shift, spawning new businesses far away from the markets and leading to exploitation of distant forests and woodlands. These are often those areas where there is less control and which lack institutionalsupport by the public authorities responsible, such as forest and energy departments (Trossero, 2003).
Charcoal production is a big threat because it targets specific preferred species found in natural forests and woodlands, most of which are poorly managed. The result is unsustainable harvesting. In drier areas, where the regenerative capacity is lower, unplanned and unmanaged charcoal production accelerates the processes that lead to desertification. In addition, in most countries of the region, regulation of charcoal production is uncoordinated and there is little investment to make business more efficient and cost-effective. This makes charcoal extraction unsustainable and contributes to its negative image.
Among its recommendations, which are applicable on a global scale, are:
For the charcoal industry of the region to thrive, the following steps have to be
undertaken:
Governments should acknowledge the value of charcoal as a chief source of
energy. A regional charcoal forum (task force) should be set up to sensitize
governments and lobby them into action. The forum could include eastern and
southern Africa, East and Central Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, or the entire
continent.
Charcoal should be given a suitable home in the government to coordinate its
production, trade and use. This could be in the forestry department, ministries of
energy or agriculture, or other appropriate government department. Alternatively,
the coordinating agency could be a corporation — as in Sudan — commission or
authority.
Once a suitable agency is identified, governments should allocate adequate
financial and human resources to develop an efficient and effective industry.
A legal framework should also be put in place to regulate the charcoal industry,
including setting and enforcing standards.
Each country should create a Charcoal Development Fund to facilitate
development of charcoal production, trade and use. For example, such a fund
could impose levies on lump charcoal and use the revenue to replant trees. It
could also provide money for research, development and promotion of
technologies, such as that for briquettes, which makes use of biomass waste and
reduces demand for lump charcoal.
Each government should formulate long-term charcoal production plans, say for
20 years, and implement them consistently. Such plans should adopt a two-
pronged tree-planting strategy that includes establishing government plantations
of fast growing trees and shrubs, and a market focused strategy that encourages
people to grow trees for money.
ICRAF in collaboration with forestry and agroforestry research institutes and
training institutions should start a scientific symposium to be held every two
years to stimulate research on the charcoal industry. The initiative, which may
also involve other developing countries, would stimulate interest and should lead
to a scientific journal on charcoal.
National, regional and continental charcoal stakeholder associations and
cooperatives should be encouraged.
Research should be undertaken in a wide range of areas, including species
selection, genetic improvement; tree planting and management and harvesting
techniques. Other key areas include carbonization, emissions, kilns and charcoal
quality; indigenous species, which have received little attention from the private
sector; wood density, disease and pest resistance, sprouting and root formation
ability; and intercropping, nitrogen fixation and selection of better species to
meet specific requirements of wood for charcoal making. Greater attention
should be given to the effects of the charcoal trees on the environment, including
on soil erosion control, water table and river levsls, natural regeneration
management and the development of growth and yield models.
