JIMBARAN, Indonesia, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Finance ministers from 37 countries met in Bali, Indonesia, to discuss ways for developing countries to reduce deforestation, officials said Monday.
As part of a two-day meeting, the ministers debated the potential for carbon markets to help cut industrial emissions of greenhouse gases, the officials said.
"There is a need for further development of the global carbon market, for example, by including more streamlined Clean Development Mechanism approaches," draft notes for the chairman's summary said.
A Clean Development Mechanism is an arrangement under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol that lets industrialized countries with a greenhouse-gas-reduction commitment invest in projects that cut emissions in developing countries -- as an alternative to more expensive emission reductions in their own countries.
"There is also a need for international payment mechanisms to encourage reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation," said the notes, referring to a proposal by developing countries to gain financial incentives from industrialized nations.
Deforestation makes up about 20 percent of global carbon emissions.
A copy of the notes was obtained by Japan's Kyodo news service.
The meeting, which concludes Tuesday, marks the first time finance ministers have gathered on the fringes of annual United Nations climate talks.
