After years of 'hype', the market for carbon credits shows signs of recovery

A report said carbon projects in South-east Asia like Rimba Raya (pictured) can potentially generate returns on investment of up to US$27.5 billion per year. - INFINITE EARTH

JAKARTA (The Straits Times/ANN): When Todd Lemons first got the Indonesian government's green light to help set up the 64,000ha Rimba Raya reserve in Central Kalimantan in 2010 a carbon credit would fetch US$10 a tonne.

Three years later, following a long tussle with a palm oil company that wanted the land, demand for carbon credits had collapsed to about US$3 a tonne as investors shied away and a long promised mandatory, or formal, carbon trading market failed to materialise.