For alleged procedural reasons, Great Britain backed an exception in the rainforest treaty to be signed in Copenhagen that threatens to swallow the entire agreement. The Independent reports that developing countries would be allowed to count rainforest areas that have been cut down and replaced with plantations towards receiving subsidies for preservation of forest cover. Of course you do not have to be a "tree hugger" to understand that from a biological perspective, plantations are almost sterile. Nor do they measure up to rainforest in water storage or carbon storage. Environmentalists are asking the EU to restore the previous language in the upcoming final negotiations or face the consequences of paying poor countries to cut down forests for palm oil plantations [photo]. Deforestation now produces about 20% of the global annual carbon dioxide emissions--more than all the world's motorized transport. Indonesia is the world's leading perpetrator of deforestation. A mere half century ago the archipelago had 80% of its rainforest in tact. Now half of the islands' forest is gone. Although a change of regime has brought new government policies concerning forest conservation, poor management compounded by corruption and lawlessness has allowed illegal logging to flourish. Officially, Indonesia supports the UN's deforestation initiative. Some critics think the carbon credits it would receive for preserving forest will not be enough to alter the situation on the ground. Nevertheless an international agreement limiting deforestation would be a major accomplishment at the Copenhagen summit.[Getty Images: a section of rainforest replanted with palm oil trees in Indonesia]