Liberia, June 4 -- On the evening of April 23, a group of ministers and stakeholders - including civil society and community leaders - gathered at a hotel in Monrovia for a stakeholder dinner with the goal of approving Liberia's draft carbon market policy.

The timing was urgent, they were told. The meeting, convened by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Carbon Markets Authority and the Forestry Development Authority, which lead the National Climate Change Steering Committee, was intended to finalize the policy before its submission to President Joseph Boakai the following day.

But a line buried in the invitation ignited controversy.

"Given the urgency and national importance, particularly as the policy is linked to [African Deve...