Environment, Carbon and Forests

I have written a lot on this blog about the 'logging loophole' in the Copenhagen climate negotiations. This loophole would allow developed countries to escape accountability for forestry emissions by hiding them in a "projected" baseline, rather than measuring actual changes in emissions.

The collapse of the formal UN talks in Copenhagen left accounting rules for Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) hanging. Without any decision, environmental groups, campaigning hard at Copenhagen against the logging loophole, were left wondering about the state of play: had they sown enough doubt about this approach that it could be seriously challenged and pushed back this year? Was it a fait accompli, with even developing countries willing to swallow this bitter pill in order to simply move on?

Two recent communications from the EU have confirmed that the environmental integrity of LULUCF accounting rules is still very much in question, and therefore still attainable. The communications focus on the problem of poor environmental integrity in LULUCF accounting rules and explicitly identify the need to choose between historic and projected reference levels for forest management.

First, the European Parliament adopted this text on February 10, 2010: The European Parliament, 20. Calls for the environmental effectiveness of Annex I emissions reduction targets to be the guiding principle as regards the EU approach to international accounting rules for forest management and LULUCF, to flexible mechanisms and to the banking of any overachievement during first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol towards post-2012 targets;

Yesterday, the European Commission released its communication, International climate policy post-Copenhagen: Acting now to reinvigorate global action on climate change" is out now.
The communication highlighted LULUCF rules as having the potential to further erode the weak emission reduction targets coming out of Copenhagen:

Accounting rules for land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) emissions from developed countries: While the EU has no difficulties in matching these requirements, it is an issue of particular importance for major forestry countries outside the EU and environmentally critical. The current rules under the Kyoto Protocol, if continued, would entail lowering the actual stringency of the current emission reduction pledges and imply that reductions can be claimed without additional actions, which brings no real environmental benefit. In an extreme scenario, the worst-case LULUCF accounting rules would weaken the real level of ambition of developed countries by up to an additional 9% in relation to 1990. This would mean that for the lower end of the pledges we would in fact allow for an increase in developed country emissions of 2.6% above 1990 levels and for the higher end of the pledges we would only see a 2% reduction in relation to 1990.

The Commission's staff working document supporting this communication explicitly observes that the question of whether reference levels are based on historic data or projections as one of the key unresolved issues in LULUCF (section 1.2.3, page 7):

1.2.3.
Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry

Accounting rules for Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) will have an important impact on the level of ambition of the target of several Annex I Parties. Developed countries’ emission reduction targets can therefore not be finalised until the future LULUCF rules have been agreed and taken into account

In addition, important parameters still need to be discussed and agreed such as

• the way to set the reference level (based on historic data or projections),
• cap, and
• threshold for the eligibility of force majeure events;
  

Parties need to decide whether accounting for forest management, cropland management and grazing land management should become mandatory after 2012 as foreseen by the Kyoto Protocol or whether they will stay voluntary.

The communication from the European Commission also concedes that we may need to wait for the UN meeting in South Africa at the end of 2011 to sew up a new legally binding treaty. A focus on getting key decisions in place this year should give the breathing room required to fix the LULUCF negotiations and close the logging loophole.

Democracy Now!, 9 March 2010 | [Amy Goodman interviews Johann Hari and Christine MacDonald.] The second issue is more complex to explain and buried in acronyms, which I apologize to your viewers for, but is really important. It’s called REDD. It’s the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation program. And it’s the absolute centerpiece of how we’re going to build a global agreement to get beyond this. It failed at Copenhagen. It’s going to have to be there in any agreement. And at the moment, it’s based on a very worrying bargain supported by Conservation International and these other groups.

Current Climate Issues blog, 8 March 2010 | New research out today from Sandbag Climate Change compiled in association with www.carbonmarketdata.comreveals the top ten companies set to profit from the EU carbon market. The Carbon Fat Cats List, dominated by steel and cement companies, could share a surplus of pollution permits worth €3.2 billion by 2012 [1]. This is more than double the EU's investment of €1.5 billion in renewable energy and clean technology as part of the economic recovery plan.
[R-M: Sandbag's report is here: http://bit.ly/bI9MKi]

By Marc Gunther, ClimateBiz.com, 12 February 2010 | [Interview with Jeff Horowitz, Avoided Deforestation Partners] MG: So why don't you -- let's take several categories of businesses, since this is a business audience, and try to summarize what the business opportunity is for each of these groups, starting with the regulated utilities like AEP and Duke Energy and PG&E. What's the opportunity for that group? JH: Well, I think it's very clear that these groups understand that pollution is bad, and controlling pollution at the source is very important to them. The technologies are not all there to create the clean coal that people are alluding to, to scrub the power -- smokestacks that create the pollution. And as they get developed, they're expensive, and the costs need to be brought down over time.

By Johann Hari, The Nation, 4 March 2010 | Some of the failing green groups can be reformed from within. The Sierra Club is a democratic organization, with the leadership appointed by its members. There are signs that members are beginning to put the organization right after the missteps of the past few years. Carl Pope is being replaced by Mike Brune, formerly of the Rainforest Action Network--a group much more aligned with the radical demands of the climate science. But other organizations--like Conservation International and TNC--seem incapable of internal reform and simply need to be shunned. They are not part of the environmental movement: they are polluter-funded leeches sucking on the flesh of environmentalism, leaving it weaker and depleted.

By Johann Hari, The Nation, 4 March 2010 | Some of the failing green groups can be reformed from within. The Sierra Club is a democratic organization, with the leadership appointed by its members. There are signs that members are beginning to put the organization right after the missteps of the past few years. Carl Pope is being replaced by Mike Brune, formerly of the Rainforest Action Network--a group much more aligned with the radical demands of the climate science. But other organizations--like Conservation International and TNC--seem incapable of internal reform and simply need to be shunned. They are not part of the environmental movement: they are polluter-funded leeches sucking on the flesh of environmentalism, leaving it weaker and depleted.

By Dr Clive Thomas, Stabroek News, 7 March 2010 | For the same assessment period as the global study (1990-2005), the FAO reports that Guyana has had no change in its net forest cover. More specifically, the LCDS reports that Guyana’s forest cover remains in excess of 15 million acres, roughly the same as in 1990. The LCDS goes on to attribute this to the systematic pursuit of sustainable forest management practices. From what I know of Guyana and what I have also read about its forests, I remain deeply sceptical of this claim. Rather I believe that this might well be an instance of the many weaknesses in the national data, from which the FAO’s global and regional estimates are compiled. Proof of this concern is seen in the varied indications of Guyana’s total forest cover. These can be found across specialist publications on the subject of Guyana’s forests, and just as frequently within the same publication, as is the case with the LCDS.

Kaieteur News, 7 March 2010 | At the request of Ban ki-Moon, the United Nations Secretary General, President Bharrat Jagdeo will join his British, Ethiopian and Norwegian counterparts to mobilise US$100 billion in annual finance for developing countries’ efforts to combat climate change. The establishment of the advisory group builds on the Copenhagen Accord, which was agreed by most of the world’s countries at December’s climate change conference in the Danish capital. UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, said that the group would take on “the task that I believe is the most important we face – combating climate change by ensuring that the poorest countries have the finance necessary to do so. “If we can resolve this problem then I believe many of the other challenges of climate change can also be solved.”

EarthCollective, 1 March 2010 | Last but not least, Silvia Weel – one of Living Lands’ and EarthCollective’s founding members – has returned after taking six months out to pursue a job opportunity in Brazil. This time away was a valuable learning experience for Silvia and, amongst other activities, she had an opportunity to understand the dynamics of deforestation in the Amazon Forest first-hand as well as getting the chance to present the case for REDD (avoided deforestation) at the Copenhagen Climate Summit last December. Whilst Silvia’s former role with Living Lands was as geo-spatial analyst (with a focus on remote sensing), Silvia’s focus will now be oriented more toward wildlife management and conservation in close cooperation with local partners. “My time away was valuable and I learnt many new things including that the working environment here with Living Lands is special and something I am very grateful to again be a part of.”

GHG Emissions Trading, 6 March 2010 | A forest fire burning near Dunedin is highlighting the risk of natural disasters to carbon which run into millions of dollars, Carbon News reports. Wenita Forest Products, which owns the 700ha of forest which has been burning most of the week, has registered under the Emissions Trading Scheme, but has not yet claimed credits. If it had, it would be liable for the carbon lost in the fire, according to Carbon News, the country’s specialist news service on the carbon markets.

GHG Emissions Trading, 6 March 2010 | A forest fire burning near Dunedin is highlighting the risk of natural disasters to carbon which run into millions of dollars, Carbon News reports. Wenita Forest Products, which owns the 700ha of forest which has been burning most of the week, has registered under the Emissions Trading Scheme, but has not yet claimed credits. If it had, it would be liable for the carbon lost in the fire, according to Carbon News, the country’s specialist news service on the carbon markets.

Climate-L.org, 5 March 2010 | The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have published a policy brief summarizing the main findings of five workshops that aimed to promote a multi-sectoral dialogue among countries on improving forest law compliance. The brief highlights lessons learned from experiences on the ground and sets out the key elements of an approach to forest law compliance and governance that will ensure the optimal role of forests in mitigating climate change. [R-M: The report is available here: http://bit.ly/bXRkNZ]

Climate-L.org, 5 March 2010 | The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have published a policy brief summarizing the main findings of five workshops that aimed to promote a multi-sectoral dialogue among countries on improving forest law compliance. The brief highlights lessons learned from experiences on the ground and sets out the key elements of an approach to forest law compliance and governance that will ensure the optimal role of forests in mitigating climate change. [R-M: The report is available here: http://bit.ly/bXRkNZ]

By Margot Roosevelt, Los Angeles Times, 5 March 2010 | The United States and Brazil signed a memorandum of understanding to work together to slash greenhouse gas emissions from tropical deforestation, one of the main drivers of global climate change. The deal, signed by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in Brasilia on Wednesday, marks the first time the two countries have formally agreed to work together on deforestation. In the past, Brazilian leaders have been wary of foreign interference in the Amazon, Earth's largest tropical forest. But climate scientists are raising loud alarms that the slashing and burning of forests, which cause about 15% of the emissions that are trapping heat in the atmosphere, threatens to dangerously disrupt the world's climate.

By Margot Roosevelt, Los Angeles Times, 5 March 2010 | The United States and Brazil signed a memorandum of understanding to work together to slash greenhouse gas emissions from tropical deforestation, one of the main drivers of global climate change. The deal, signed by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in Brasilia on Wednesday, marks the first time the two countries have formally agreed to work together on deforestation. In the past, Brazilian leaders have been wary of foreign interference in the Amazon, Earth's largest tropical forest. But climate scientists are raising loud alarms that the slashing and burning of forests, which cause about 15% of the emissions that are trapping heat in the atmosphere, threatens to dangerously disrupt the world's climate.

PRWEB, 9 March 2010 | How will the Carbon markets evolve? the Carbon Markets 2010, meeting on 6-7 May 2010 in Singapore offers clarity on key issues influencing the global carbon marketplace, its effects on carbon trade and CDM. top Carbon experts from BNP Paribas, Bloomberg & more will share views on the reality & drivers of the global carbon market. Attend to pinpoint strategies to combat current market uncertainties over Post- 2012!

mongabay.com, 7 March 2010 | The agreement is significant because the two countries have been somewhat at odds over how a scheme to reduce emissions from deforestation would work. In the early stages, Brazil balked at the prospect of allowing rich, industrialized countries off the hook via REDD without reducing their own emissions, instead proposing an aid-based approach embodied in the $21 billion Amazon Fund, which was announced in 2008.

mongabay.com, 7 March 2010 | The agreement is significant because the two countries have been somewhat at odds over how a scheme to reduce emissions from deforestation would work. In the early stages, Brazil balked at the prospect of allowing rich, industrialized countries off the hook via REDD without reducing their own emissions, instead proposing an aid-based approach embodied in the $21 billion Amazon Fund, which was announced in 2008.

Foreign Policy Association: Job Board, March 2010 | Organization: Global Witness, Location: Guyana (Georgetown). Global Witness seeks a Policy Advisor to be located in Guyana on a short-term, extendable contract basis in support of our work on governance, monitoring and transparency in the forest sector, including initiatives for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) that are currently underway in Guyana.

Orangutan Foundation International Blog, 4 March 2010 | Bill Law investigates the causes and consequences of the great global land grab, as richer nations and multinational corporations acquire vast tracts of land in developing countries. Bill weighs up the pros and cons of Indonesia’s palm oil revolution. The country leads the world in palm oil production and the world is hungry for it; check any food label and as likely as not palm oil will turn up as one of the ingredients. Low-cost, high-yield palm oil has transformed Indonesia creating wealth and a new middle class. But in the process, it has carved up huge swathes of rainforest: http://bit.ly/bi10bp