HUMAN IMPACTS ON CARBON EMISSIONS & LOSSES IN ECOSYSTEMS SERVICES: THE NEED FOR RESTORATION AND INNOVATIVE CLIMATE FINANCe FOR THE AMAZON

Abstract

Over the last decade (2010-2020), the Amazon carbon budget, integrating all absorption and emission processes, indicates that the region has become a carbon source. Extreme climate events exacerbate human-driven changes in the Amazon, threatening the wellbeing of Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) as well as those who live in its cities and towns. Ending all deforestation (legal and illegal) and preventing forest degradation can restore the Amazonian carbon sink. Carbon markets (i.e., transactions of carbon credits in exchange for carbon removals or storage) can provide part of the finance needed for forest protection and restoration.