The policy process on climate change

Environmental Science & Policy, 2007

Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 2010

The newly appreciated role of deforestation and forest degradation as globally significant sources of carbon emissions has focused fresh political attention and large prospective financial flows on tropical forest management. Negotiations at the Thirteenth Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change produced a 'road map' toward including compensation to tropical countries for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) in a future global climate agreement. The prospect of a global REDD mechanism has spurred the development of REDD initiatives by national governments, international organizations, and private actors. These new initiatives are facing many of the same forest governance challenges that have stymied past efforts to improve the conservation and management of tropical forests. To be effective, efficient, and equitable, REDD efforts will not only have to reverse the economic incentives that drive forest loss, but will also need to clarify land tenure, link to international efforts to curb illegal logging and trade, and manage trade-offs among competing objectives. They will also need to strengthen the institutional capacity for inclusive REDD design processes, transparent monitoring of carbon emissions and financial flows, and cross-sectoral and cross-scale coordination. At the same time, REDD initiatives could provide opportunities to accelerate the required forest governance reforms.

Environmental Science & Policy, 2007

Policies and measures a b s t r a c t This paper presents a framework that encompasses a full range of options for including land use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF) within future agreements under the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The intent is to provide options that can address the broad range of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals as well as to bring the broadest possible range of nations into undertaking mitigation efforts. We suggest that the approach taken for the Kyoto Protocol's first commitment period is only one within a much larger universe of possible approaches. This larger universe includes partially or completely ''de-linking'' LULUCF commitments from those in other sectors, and allowing commitments specified in terms other than tonnes of greenhouse gases. Such approaches may provide clarity and transparency concerning the role of the various sectors in the agreements and encourage participation in agreements by a more inclusive, diverse set of countries, resulting in a more effective use of LULUCF in addressing climate change.

Forests and Climate Change, 2012

New York: United Nations

Basic densities of wood from 10 species (572 trees) of softwoods and 50 species (440 trees) of hardwoods were measured as parameters for estimating the amount of carbon removal by forests following the guidelines described in the Kyoto Protocol and Marrakesh Accord. The basic densities of individual trees were averaged for each species and 95% confi dence limits were calculated for quality control. Furthermore, variations in the mean basic densities within species were assessed by analysis of variation and the effects of stand ages or tree ages on the basic densities were also evaluated. The average and 95% confi dence limits of the basic densities in most species that were collected for a certain number of sample trees converged and most species showed low uncertainty up to 5 %. Some species, such as Larix kaempferi, Picea jezoensis and Picea glehnii, showed signifi cant differences among plots, while other species, such as Chamaecyparis obtusa and Abies sachalinensis did not. When the basic densities were averaged for regional groups, the regional mean did not show signifi cant difference. Thus, the differences found between plots might not have been caused by regional variation. Moreover, neither the tree age nor the stand age showed signifi cant correlation with the basic densities; the basic densities of younger stands (younger than 20 years old) did not differ from those of the older stands. These results suggest that using basic densities as a parameter for estimating carbon removal by forests does not require the preparation of values for districts or age classes.

This issue of Metla's Working Papers is a compilation of the group work reports of the Joensuu Forestry Networking Week (JFNW) 2009 -Fighting Climate Change: Adapting Forest Policy and Forest Management in Europe held in Metla House Joensuu, Finland from 24-29 May 2009. The main goal of the JFNW 2009 was to discuss the role of forestry in adapting to and mitigating climate change from the viewpoint of forest science and other scientific disciplines, with a special focus on forest policy and forest management. Priorities for actions at the local, national and European levels were made, and regional differences within Europe were described.

Journal of Environmental Law & Policy, 2021

Forests influence climate change by either increasing or decreasing the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases. When unsustainably managed, forests can release more greenhouse gases than they can absorb, intensifying their atmospheric concentration with adverse climate and human health outcomes. Several frameworks and institutional arrangements have been adopted globally to help strengthen political commitment and actions to promote the sustainable management of forests and enhance forests’ contribution to climate change mitigation. Nevertheless, the destruction of tropical forests is accelerating at an alarming rate, making it an uphill battle to stop forest sector carbon emissions, limit the global average temperature rise to well below 2°C, and build a sustainable and climate-resilient future for all. The continuous release of forest-related emissions indicates that humanity has fallen short of meeting global forest and climate-related goals and, hence, reiterates the need...

Global Forest Governance and Climate Change, 2018