Bali delegates agree to support forests-for-climate (REDD) plan
Bali delegates agree to support forests-for-climate (REDD) plan
mongabay.com
December 16, 2007
Delegates meeting at the U.N. climate conference in Bali agreed to include forest conservation in future discussions on a new global warming treaty, reports the Associated Press. The move could lead to the transfer of billions of dollars — in the form of carbon credits — from industrialized countries to tropical nations for the purpose of slowing greenhouse gas emissions by reducing deforestation rates. Deforestation presently accounts for roughly 20 percent of anthropogenic emissions worldwide.
While controversial, the program, known as Reducing Emissions From Deforestation and Degradation (REDD), has been widely seen by scientists and environmentalists as a way to address environmental degradation by assigning value to intact ecosystems like rainforests and peat swamps.
“[REDD has] the potential to shift the balance of underlying economic market forces that currently favor deforestation, by raising billions of dollars for the ecosystem services provided by rainforest regions,” wrote a team of scientists in a paper published in Science last month.
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Researchers, together with the UK government’s 2005 Stern Review, say that forest protection could be one of the most cost-effective ways to address climate change.
“Conserving tropical forests could ultimately be one of the cheapest ways we have available to slow global warming,” said Dr. William Laurance, a biologist with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute who has co-authored several papers on REDD. “The costs of forest conservation are modest and deforestation is a massive source of emissions, so slowing deforestation is like plucking the low-hanging fruit — there’s a lot of benefit for not a lot of cost. And of course we’re not just storing carbon; we’re also saving the world’s most biologically important real estate, providing a place for local and indigenous peoples, and helping to stabilize delicate soils and reduce catastrophic flooding.”
Delegates at Bali apparently agreed, recommending that efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation should be “strengthened and supported” but stopping short of calling for anything other than voluntary action on REDD.
REDD still faces many challenges, especially in implementation. Issues range from “permanence” (whether a county can ensure that forest carbon savings are permanent) to “leakage” (what happens when carbon conservation in one area drives deforestation in another?) to baseline data establishment (how does one measure historic deforestation to establish a baseline for calculating reduction?). Further questions over land rights (will REDD trigger a land rush by industrial agriculture giants and forestry firms?) as well as how local communities will benefit (the cost of registering and establishing a REDD project may top $50,000, a nearly insurmountable sum for communities and small-scale forest holders in some of the world’s poorest countries) are also valid. There is also ongoing squabbling between a coalition of forest nations and Brazil, which sees REDD as an attempt to limit its economic development of the Amazon rainforest. Some forest-rich countries that have low deforestation rates have expressed concern they will be left out of the process since their forests are not under immediate threat.
Despite these concerns, it appears likely the REDD initiatives will move forward. Last week nine industrialized governments announced plans to put US$165 million (114 million) toward the World Bank’s newly created Forest Carbon Partnership Facility, a scheme that will offer tropical countries carbon offset credits to preserve forests. The U.S. did not pledge any funds but some 30 tropical countries in Africa, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific stood to benefit from what the World Bank called “the first financial mechanism to pay countries for saving their tropical forests.” In the spirit of the progress on REDD, Governors from the Brazilian state of Amazonas and the Indonesian provinces of Aceh, Papua and West Papua agreed to a moratorium on logging until the carbon values of their forest lands is assessed.
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The Conference of the Parties (COP-13) Decision:
Reducing emissions from deforestation in developing countries: approaches to stimulate action
– Advance unedited version –
Recalling the relevant provisions of the Convention, in particular Article 2, Article 3, paragraphs
1, 3 and 4, and Article 4, paragraphs 1(a)-(d), 3, 5 and 7,
Acknowledging the contribution of the emissions from deforestation to global anthropogenic
greenhouse gas emissions,
Acknowledging that forest degradation also leads to emissions, and needs to be addressed when
reducing emissions from deforestation,
Recognizing that efforts and actions to reduce deforestation and to maintain and conserve forest
carbon stocks in developing countries are already being taken,
Recognizing the complexity of the problem, different national circumstances and the multiple
drivers of deforestation and forest degradation,
Recognizing the potential role of further actions to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest
degradation in developing countries in helping to meet the ultimate objective of the Convention,
Affirming the urgent need to take further meaningful action to reduce emissions from
deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries,
Noting that sustainable reduction in emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in
developing countries requires stable and predictable availability of resources,
Recognizing that reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing
countries can promote co-benefits and may complement the aims and objectives of other relevant
international conventions and agreements,
Recognizing also that the needs of local and indigenous communities should be addressed when
action is taken to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries,
1. Invites Parties to further strengthen and support ongoing efforts to reduce emissions from
deforestation and forest degradation on a voluntary basis;
2. Encourages all Parties, in a position to do so, to support capacity-building, provide
technical assistance, facilitate the transfer of technology to improve, inter alia, data collection, estimation
of emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, monitoring and reporting, and address the
institutional needs of developing countries to estimate and reduce emissions from deforestation and forest
degradation;
3. Further encourages Parties to explore a range of actions, identify options and undertake
efforts, including demonstration activities, to address the drivers of deforestation relevant to their national
circumstances, with a view to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and thus
enhancing forest carbon stocks due to sustainable management of forests;
Advance unedited version
4. Encourages, without prejudice to future decisions of the Conference of the Parties, the
use of the indicative guidance provided in the annex as an aid in undertaking and evaluating the range of
demonstration activities;
5. Invites Parties, in particular Parties included in Annex II to the Convention, to mobilize
resources to support efforts in relation to the actions referred to in paragraphs 1-3 above;
6. Encourages the use of the most recent reporting guidelines1 as a basis for reporting
greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation, noting also that Parties not included in Annex I to the
Convention are encouraged to apply the Good Practice Guidance for Land Use, Land-Use Change and
Forestry;2
7. Requests the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice to undertake a
programme of work on methodological issues related to a range of policy approaches and positive
incentives that aim to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries
noting relevant documents;3 the work should include:
(a) Inviting Parties to submit, by 21 March 2008, their views on how to address outstanding
methodological issues including, inter alia, assessments of changes in forest cover and associated carbon
stocks and greenhouse gas emissions, incremental changes due to sustainable management of the forest,
demonstration of reductions in emissions from deforestation, including reference emissions levels,
estimation and demonstration of reduction in emissions from forest degradation, implications of national
and subnational approaches including displacement of emissions, options for assessing the effectiveness
of actions in relation to paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 5 above, and criteria for evaluating actions, to be compiled
into a miscellaneous document for consideration at the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological
Advice at its twenty-eighth session;
(b) Requesting the secretariat, subject to availability of supplementary funding, to organize a
workshop on methodological issues identified in paragraph 7 (a) above, before its twenty-ninth session,
and to prepare a report on the workshop for consideration by the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and
Technological Advice at that session;
(c) Advancing the development of methodological approaches, taking into account the
outcome of the workshop referred to in paragraph 7 (b) above at its twenty-ninth session;
8. Requests the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice to report to the
Conference of the Parties, at its fourteenth session, on the outcomes of the work referred to in paragraphs
7 (a)-(c) above, including any recommendations on possible methodological approaches;
9. Invites relevant organizations and stakeholders, without prejudice to any future decision
of the Conference of the Parties on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in
developing countries, to support efforts in relation to paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 5 above and to share
outcomes of these efforts with the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice by providing
corresponding information to the secretariat;
10. Request the secretariat to support, subject to the availability of supplementary funding,
the activities of all Parties, in particular developing countries, in relation to paragraphs 3, 5, 7 and 9
above, by developing a Web platform where information submitted by Parties, relevant organizations and
stakeholders will be made available;
11. Notes the further consideration, under decision X/CP.13, of policy approaches and
positive incentives on issues relating to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in
developing countries; and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement
of forest carbon stocks in developing countries;
12. Notes further that when addressing policy approaches and positive incentives on issues
relating to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries, the
efforts described in paragraph 3 above should be considered.
