Santilli et al.’s proposal at COP9 introduces a vital approach to addressing tropical deforestation, a major source of GHG emissions not yet covered under the Kyoto Protocol (KP). While the proposal has its limitations, this article explores potential improvements to make it a viable solution. Key research areas include assessing the emission reduction potential of realistic deforestation avoidance strategies, understanding the timing of emissions from deforestation, identifying deforestation drivers and effective national policies, addressing forest degradation and subsequent deforestation, managing the conversion of natural forests, and integrating “compensated reduction” into the Kyoto framework or its successor. The refined proposal is timely as negotiations for the post-2012 period under the UNFCCC are forthcoming.
