April 9 (Bloomberg) -- Rich nations could use tradable credits from poorer countries that reduce deforestation for 5 percent of compliance with emissions-reduction requirements, according to a United Nations option.

Use of credits tied to deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries, known as REDD, and other land-use change “shall not exceed 1 percent of base-year emissions of that party, times five,” according to a document dated yesterday on the Web site of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The word “five” was bracketed, indicating a final decision had not been made on the limit.

Cutting down forests and letting trees rot or burn accounts for about a fifth of greenhouse-gas emissions. Some 192 countries may include measures to slow deforestation in a global-warming treaty that is scheduled to be presented in December in Copenhagen. The U.S. is the only major country that didn’t sign the 1997 Kyoto Protocol that runs until 2012.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mathew Carr in London at m.carr@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 9, 2009 03:19 EDT