- Inventory-based carbon stock of Flemish forests: A comparison of European biomass expansion factors
- Application of the ‘Climafor’ approach to estimate baseline carbon emissions of forest conservation project in the Selva Lacandona, Chiapas, Mexico
- The role of land surface processes in regional climate change: a case study of future land cover change over South Western Australia
- Site and weather effects in allometries: A simple approach to climate change effect on pines
- Does elevated CO2 facilitate naturalization of the non-indigenous Prunus laurocerasus in Swiss temperate forests?
- A structured decision-making approach to climate change adaptation in the forest sector
- Growth reaction of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst) and European beech (Fagus silvatica L.) to possible climatic changes in Germany. A sensitivity study
- Gross primary production is stimulated for three Populus species grown under free-air CO2 enrichment from planting through canopy closure
- Potential of agroforestry techniques in mitigating CO2 emissions in Nigeria: Some preliminary estimates
- Valuing the impacts of climate change on protected areas in Africa
- Carbon and nutrient stocks in the litter layer of agroforestry systems in central Amazonia, Brazil
- Partitioning direct and indirect human-induced effects on carbon sequestration of managed coniferous forests using model simulations and forest inventories
- Uncertainty in land-use change and forestry sector mitigation options for global warming: Plantation silviculture versus avoided deforestation
- Sensitivity of tropical forests to climate change in the humid tropics of north Queensland
- Carbon trading: Forests New South Wales leading the way
- Forest owners want carbon credits back
- Experimental drought predicts grim future for rainforest
- Cleaning up economic growth
- UNFCCC: 4th Meeting of the Afforestation and Reforestation Working Group
- Workshop results on “Facilitating Forestry Mitigation Projects in India: Promoting Stakeholder Dialogue and Capacity Building”
- International conference: Climate or development?
- QUEST Workshop: Sustainable Forestry and Climate Mitigation
- Air Pollution, Global Change and Forests in the New Millennium
- National System of Greenhouse Gas Reporting for Forest and Nature Areas under UNFCCC in the Netherlands
- Policy Advocate, North American Affairs
- START-PACOM Doctoral Fellowship Awards
- Climate Policy Researcher at Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI), Germany
- Policy Analyst
- CATIE - Costa Rica
- Vacancies at CIFOR
- IIED: Administrator for the Climate Change Group
Van Camp, N. - Vande Walle, I. - Mertens, J. - De Neve, S. - Samson, R. - Lust, N. - Lemeur, R. - Boeckx, P. - Lootens, P. - Beheydt, D. - Mestdagh, I. - Sleutel, S. - Verbeeck, H. - Van Cleemput, O. - Hofman, G. - Carlier, L. (2004)
Annals of Forest Science 61 (7): 677-682
Abstract: Different European Biomass Expansion Factors (BEFs) were compared for the inventory-based quantification of total aboveground and belowground biomass in forests. Therefore a qualitative analysis is performed on the biomass results obtained through the BEF approach and those from experimentally established allometric relations based on destructively sampled and fully excavated trees. Total organic carbon (OC) stock in aboveground and belowground living biomass of Flemish forests amounts to 12 Mt on average, with a significantly larger OC stock per hectare in deciduous forests compared to coniferous or mixed forest types. Total forest biomass seems to be fairly well approximated by a multiplication of the standing stock with either one of the applied BEFs. However an indication of the volume and age class for which the BEFs are established and a refined diameter-volume-biomass relation for oak trees in Europe, are required to gain more accurate results.
Application of the ‘Climafor’ approach to estimate baseline carbon emissions of forest conservation project in the Selva Lacandona, Chiapas, Mexico
De Jong., B.H.J. - Hellier, A. - Castillo-Santiago M.A. - Tipper R. (2005)
Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change 10: 265–278
Abstract. We present a methodology for testing and applying a regional baseline for carbon (C) emissions from land-use change, using a spatial modelling approach (hereafter called the Climafor approach). The methodology is based on an analysis of causal factors of previous land-use change emissions within acceptable limits for a forest conservation project. The performance of two risk matrices were tested by estimating carbon emissions between 1975 and 1996 from randomly selected sample plots of sizes varying from 1,600 to 10,000 ha and comparing the results of the observed emissions from these sample plots with the model estimations. Expected emissions from continued land-use change were estimated for the community applying the risk matrices to the current land cover. The methodology provides an objective means of constructing baseline scenarios including confidence intervals, using the sum of variances of the various data sources, such as measured carbon densities, classification errors, errors in the risk matrices, and differences between the model prediction and observed emissions of sample plots due to sample size. The procedures applied in this study also give an indication of the impact of the variance in the various data sources on the size of the confidence intervals, which allows project developers to decide what data sources are essential to improve his baseline. The modelling approach to estimate the deforestation pattern is based on readily available cartographic and census data, whereas data on carbon densities are required to assess the potential for forest conservation projects to offset carbon emissions.
The role of land surface processes in regional climate change: a case study of future land cover change over South Western Australia
Pitman, A.J. – Narisma, G. T. (2005)
Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics, published online 20 June 2005
Abstract: Using a high resolution regional climate model we perform multiple January simulations of the impact of land cover change over Western Australia. We focus on the potential of reforestation to ameliorate the projected warming over western Australia under two emission scenarios (A2, B2) for 2050 and 2100. Our simulations include the structural and physiological responses of the biosphere to changes in climate and changes in carbon dioxide. We find that reforestation has the potential to reduce the warming caused by the enhanced greenhouse effect by as much as 30% under the A2 and B2 scenarios by 2050 but the cooling effect declines to 10% by 2100 as CO2-induced warming intensifies. The cooling effect of reforestation over western Australia is caused primarily by the increase in leaf area index that leads to a corresponding increase in the latent heat flux. This cooling effect is localized and there were no simulated changes in temperature over regions remote from land cover change. We also show that the more extreme emission scenario (A2) appears to lead to a more intense response in photosynthesis by 2100. Overall, our results are not encouraging in terms of the potential to offset future warming by large scale reforestation. However, at regional scales the impact of land cover change is reasonably large relative to the impact of increasing carbon dioxide (up to 2050) suggesting that future projections of the Australian climate would benefit from the inclusion of projections of future land cover change. We suggest that this would add realism and regional detail to future projections and perhaps aid detection and attribution studies.
López-Serrano, F.R. - García-Morote, A. - Andrés-Abellán, M. - Tendero, A. - del Cerro, A. (2005)
Forest Ecology and Management, available online 13 June 2005
Abstract: Allometric relationships allow estimation of forest stand variables (volume, biomass, leaf area), which are very important in forest management and in key ecosystem processes. However, these relationships are very costly to obtain, as the data on which they are based require laborious destructive sampling. In addition, allometric coefficients appear to change for a given species depending on stand density, site and season (recent weather conditions). Thus, if the environmental conditions change, these relationships may not be valid. This study attempts to explain why allometric relationships may vary in time and from site to site by using a little set of known bioclimatic variables. Seventy-eight trees from three sites and eight dates were selected for destructive sampling. Dendrometric variables were obtained from stem analysis. Leaf area and leaf biomass were estimated using ratio estimators in stratified random sampling. The allometric relationships varied depending on the site and date. Relationships involving variables that accumulate during the life-span of a tree (biomass, volume and height of stem versus diameter at breast height) depend mainly on site and little on recent weather conditions. In contrast, those regarding variables that were not totally cumulative (leaf and branch biomass and leaf area versus diameter at breast height) varied mostly with recent weather conditions. Bioclimatic variables have proved to be both a meaningful and easy tool to use to produce a parameterisation of all the allometric relationships, which could be very useful to obtain transition and output functions in growth modelling.
Does elevated CO2 facilitate naturalization of the non-indigenous Prunus laurocerasus in Swiss temperate forests?
Haettenschwiler, S. - Koerner, C. (2003)
Functional Ecology 17 (6): 778-785
Abstract: 1. An increasing abundance of the non-indigenous evergreen woody plant species Prunus laurocerasus has been observed in the understorey of Swiss temperate forests. We addressed the question whether rising atmospheric CO 2 concentration contributes to the success of this species in a comparative test with four co-occurring native species (Ilex aquifolium, Hedera helix, Fraxinus excelsior, Carpinus betulus). 2. We grew plants from germination to the end of the third growing season in open-top chambers exposed to either ambient or two elevated CO2 concentrations (500 and 660 μmol mol-1) in a deeply shaded forest understorey (1.2-3.2% of full sun). 3. Species differed greatly in their response to CO2. Biomass growth in Prunus increased by an average of 56% at the two elevated CO2 concentrations compared to ambient CO2; there was no significant difference between 500 and 660 μmol mol-1. In contrast the native Ilex, with the same functional traits, a similar life history and occurring in the same habitat, showed no significant CO2 response. 4. A particularly large and nearly linear CO2 effect on seedling growth was observed in the liana Hedera with 100% more biomass and 137% longer stems at 660 ¼mol CO2 mol-1 compared to ambient CO2. Seedlings of the deciduous tree species Fraxinus produced 43% more biomass at elevated CO2 (no significant difference between 500 and 660 ¼mol mol-1), but there was no significant CO2 effect on Carpinus seedlings. 5. Our results indicate that elevated CO2 might contribute to the current spread of Prunus in natural forests. The strong CO2 response in Hedera suggests an increasing rate of tree colonization with rising CO2. Increasing dominance of non-indigenous understorey species and accelerated liana colonization of canopy trees could both have far-ranging consequences for forest community dynamics and composition.
Ohlson, D.W. - McKinnon, G.A. - Hirsch, K.G. (2005)
Forestry Chronicle 81 (1): 97-103
Abstract: Climate change presents a risk to the composition, health, and vitality of Canada's forests and forest sector. Effects may be either negative or positive, and will interact in complex ways over many spatial and temporal scales depending on such factors as physical geography, forest type, and forest management practices. Given the apparent vulnerability of forests and the forest sector to climate change, it is prudent that forest and forest-based community managers begin to develop adaptive strategies to minimize the risks and maximize the benefits of climate change. A flexible planning framework that incorporates key principles of structured decision-making and risk management is presented as a practical way to integrate climate change adaptation into forest management planning.
Growth reaction of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst) and European beech (Fagus silvatica L.) to possible climatic changes in Germany. A sensitivity study
Pretzsch, H., - Dursky, J. (2002)
Forstwissenschaftliches Centralblatt 121 (1): 145-154
Abstract: The paper presents scenario calculations for the growth of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) and European beech (Fagus silvatica L.) under climate change. Simulation runs with the individual tree model SILVA 2.2 show that German forests under strong climate change may be affected by severe increment reductions and shifts in competition between tree species. The current observed growth trends as well as the simulation results confirm that the reactions of Norway spruce stands to climatic changes vary widely. In addition, the reaction of Spruce and Beech may be quite different. The recent temperature increase as shown for the northern hemisphere and the prolongation of the vegetation period provides a probable explanation for the increment increase over large regions. The extent of the increment reaction depends on the species specific ecological amplitude and is superimposed by locally and regionally influences, such as soil characteristics, element inputs and biotic stressors. This superimposition generates a number of increment reaction patterns including positive and negative deviations from an expected development of an age typical increment. It delivers an explanation for the seemingly paradoxical result that even hypertrophic growth, increment reductions and death of stands can occur concurrently.
Gross primary production is stimulated for three Populus species grown under free-air CO2 enrichment from planting through canopy closure
Wittig, V.E. - Bernacchi, C.J. - Zhu, X.G. - Calfapietra, C. - Ceulemans, R. - Deangelis, P. - Gielen, B. - Miglietta, F. - Morgan, P.B. - Long, S.P. (2005)
Global Change Biology 11 (4): 644-656
Abstract: How forests will respond to rising CO2 in the long term is uncertain, most studies having involved juvenile trees in chambers prior to canopy closure. Poplar free-air CO2 enrichment (Viterbo, Italy) is one of the first experiments to grow a forest from planting through canopy closure to coppice, entirely under open-air conditions using free-air CO2 enrichment technology. Three Populus species: P. alba, P. nigra and P. x euramericana, were grown in three blocks, each containing one control and one treatment plot in which CO2 was elevated to the expected 2050 concentration of 550 ppm. The objective of this study was to estimate gross primary production (GPP) from recorded leaf photosynthetic properties, leaf area index (LAI) and meteorological conditions over the complete 3-year rotation cycle. From the meteorological conditions recorded at 30 min intervals and biweekly measurements of LAI, the microclimate of leaves within the plots was estimated with a radiation transfer and energy balance model. This information was in turn used as input into a canopy microclimate model to determine light and temperature of different leaf classes at 30 min intervals which in turn was used with the steady-state biochemical model of leaf photosynthesis to compute CO2 uptake by the different leaf classes. The parameters of these models were derived from measurements made at regular intervals throughout the coppice cycle. The photosynthetic rates for different leaf classes were summed to obtain canopy photosynthesis, i.e. GPP. The model was run for each species in each plot, so that differences in GPP between species and treatments could be tested statistically. Significant stimulation of GPP driven by elevated CO2 occurred in all 3 years, and was greatest in the first year (223-251%), but markedly lower in the second (19-24%) and third years (5-19%). Increase in GPP in elevated relative to control plots was highest for P. nigra in 1999 and for P. x euramericana in 2000 and 2001; although in 1999 P. alba had a higher GPP than P. x euramericana. Our analysis attributed the decline in stimulation to canopy closure and not photosynthetic acclimation. Over the 3-year rotation cycle from planting to harvest, the cumulative GPP was 4500, 4960 and 4010 g C m-2 for P. alba, P. nigra and P. x euramericana, respectively, in current CO2 and 5260, 5800 and 5000 g C m-2 in the elevated CO2 treatments. The relative changes were consistent with independent measurements of net primary production, determined independently from biomass increments and turnover.
Potential of agroforestry techniques in mitigating CO2 emissions in Nigeria: Some preliminary estimates
Adesina, F.A. - Siyanbola, W.O. - Oketola, F.A. - Pelemo, D.A. - Momodu, S.A. - Adegbulugbe, A.O. - Ojo, L.O. (1999)
Global Ecology and Biogeography 8 (2): 163-173
Abstract: This paper attempts some preliminary evaluation of the potential of agroforestry techniques as a forestry strategy for controlling atmospheric CO2 - a critical greenhouse gas. The end-use scenario was adopted that attempts to meet the wood and related needs of the nation while mitigating climate change. The net emission estimate for the Forestry Sector in 1990 - the base year for the study - was 9.5 million tonnes of carbon (MtC). Based on this figure, projections into the year 2030 gave cumulative net emissions of 427.4 and 580.5 MtC at 1.3% and 2.6% deforestation rates respectively. However, mitigating with agroforestry techniques, assuming that about 76% of the estimated 39.5 million ha of farmland in the country is committed to a variety of agroforestry systems, the results show that a total of 1530 MtC can be withdrawn from the atmosphere by the year 2030. The paper concludes that there is a reasonable case for the use of agroforestry techniques in the country, both as a means of sustaining soil productivity and as a strategy for mitigating climate change.
Velarde, S.J. - Malhi, Y. - Moran, D. - Wright, J. - Hussain, S. (2005)
Ecological Economics 53 (1): 21-33
Abstract: This study quantifies the economic costs of climate change impacts on protected areas in Africa. Downscaled results from four Global Circulation Models (GCMs) are used to classify different ecosystems in accordance with the Holdridge Life Zone (HLZ) system. A benefits transfer approach is then used to place an economic value on the predicted ecosystem shifts resulting from climate change in protected areas. The results provide approximations for the impacts on biodiversity in Africa under the “business-as-usual” scenario established by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for the middle and end of the 21st century. The geographical analysis shows that there are twenty HLZs in Africa and all of them are represented in the protected area network. Three of these HLZs do not change in extent as a result of climate change. Assuming initially that the willingness to pay (WTP) values and the preferences for different ecosystem services remain constant, three of the GCM models show an (undiscounted) negative economic impact of climate change for protected areas in Africa for the year 2100. The worst-case damage scenario totals USD 74.5 million by 2100. However, the model for the year 2065 shows a higher undiscounted value than the present. The finding of positive net impacts from warming is consistent with the predictions of other macro models that show potential gains from warming scenarios.
Tapia-Coral, S.C. - Luiza, F.J. - Randelli, E. - Fernandes, E.C.M. (2005)
Agroforestry Systems (65): 33–42
Abstract: Both second-growth and agroforestry systems (AFs) have the potential for recovering thousands of abandoned pasturelands in Amazon. The AFs may do it faster and, at the same time, produce direct economic benefits for farmers. Improved nutrient recycling may be expected due to distinctive litter production in AFs, but lacks experimental data yet. The stocks of carbon and nutrients of the litter layer under different agroforestry systems (AFs) were investigated at an abandoned pasture site, 60 km north of Manaus. The experimental design consisted of three blocks, with 5 treatments: four different types of 5-year-old AFs and a secondary forest (CAP). Litter layer was sampled in the wet and dry seasons, sorted according to the predominant plant species and analysed for carbon and nutrient concentrations. The litter layer in the control plots was much larger than in the AFs, and thus, the carbon stocks in the litter layer of the control (wet = 489 g m2; dry = 783 g m2) were larger than in the AFs. However, due to a clearly higher concentration of nutrients in the litter from the AFs, some nutrient stocks were similar or even greater than in the control. The planted timber species and the green manures were important sources of K and Ca to the litter layer while the peach-palm was an important source of Mg. In general, the litter of AFs had lower C: nutrient ratios than the litter in the secondary forest control, indicating a faster nutrient recycling in the AFs.
Partitioning direct and indirect human-induced effects on carbon sequestration of managed coniferous forests using model simulations and forest inventories
Vetter, M. - Wirth, C. - Boettcher, H. - Churkina, G. - Schulze, E. D. - Wutzler, T. - Weber, G. (2005)
Global Change Biology 11 (5): 810-827
Abstract: Temperate forest ecosystems have recently been identified as an important net sink in the global carbon budget. The factors responsible for the strength of the sinks and their permanence, however, are less evident. In this paper, we quantify the present carbon sequestration in Thuringian managed coniferous forests. We quantify the effects of indirect human-induced environmental changes (increasing temperature, increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration and nitrogen fertilization), during the last century using BIOME-BGC, as well as the legacy effect of the current age-class distribution (forest inventories and BIOME-BGC). We focused on coniferous forests because these forests represent a large area of central European forests and detailed forest inventories were available. The model indicates that environmental changes induced an in crease in biomass C accumulation for all age classes during the last 20 years (1982-2001). Young and old stands had the highest changes in the biomass C accumulation during this period. During the last century mature stands (older than 80 years) turned from being almost carbon neutral to carbon sinks. In high elevations nitrogen deposition explained most of the increase of net ecosystem production (NEP) of forests. CO2 fertilization was the main factor increasing NEP of forests in the middle and low elevations. According to the model, at present, total biomass C accumulation in coniferous forests of Thuringia was estimated at 1.51 t C ha-1 yr-1 with an averaged annual NEP of 1.42 t C ha-1yr-1 and total net biome production of 1.03 t C ha-1yr-1 (accounting for harvest). The annual averaged biomass carbon balance (BCB: biomass accumulation rate-harvest) was 1.12 t C ha-1yr-1 (not including soil respiration), and was close to BCB from forest inventories (1.15 t C ha-1yr-1). Indirect human impact resulted in 33% increase in modeled biomass carbon accumulation in coniferous forests in Thuringia during the last century. From the forest inventory data we estimated the legacy effect of the age-class distribution to account for 17% of the inventory-based sink. Isolating the environmental change effects showed that these effects can be large in a long-term, managed conifer forest.
Uncertainty in land-use change and forestry sector mitigation options for global warming: Plantation silviculture versus avoided deforestation
Philip M. Fearnside, P.M. (2000)
Fuel and Energy Abstracts 41 (6): 413
Abstract: How land-use change and forestry sector options can be used to mitigate global warming will depend on a variety of pending decisions regarding interpretation of the Kyoto Protocol, including treatment of uncertainty. In tropical forest countries, the allocation of effort between plantation silviculture and reduction of deforestation would be influenced by the stringency of requirements regarding certainty. Slowing deforestation offers much greater potential benefits, but the certainty associated with these is much lower than in the case of plantations. In the Brazilian case, deforestation avoidance could produce carbon benefits worth 6-45 times as much as the destructive ranching and logging uses to which the forest is now being converted. Capturing the potential value of carbon benefits from avoided deforestation will depend on increasing our understanding of the deforestation process and consequent ability to reduce the uncertainty associated with the effects of deforestation-avoidance measures. It will also depend on whether carbon credits are defined in terms of a maximum level of uncertainty.
Hilbert, D.W. - Ostendorf, B. - Hopkins, M.S. (2001)
Austral Ecology 26 (6): 590-603
Abstract: An analysis using an artificial neural network model suggests that the tropical forests of north Queensland are highly sensitive to climate change within the range that is likely to occur in the next 50-100 years. The distribution and extent of environments suitable for 15 structural forest types were estimated, using the model, in 10 climate scenarios that include warming up to 1 °C and altered precipitation from -10% to +20%. Large changes in the distribution of forest environments are predicted with even minor climate change. Increased precipitation favours some rainforest types, whereas decreased rainfall increases the area suitable for forests dominated by sclerophyllous genera such as Eucalyptus and Allocasuarina. Rainforest environments respond differentially to increased temperature. The area of lowland mesophyll vine forest environments increases with warming, whereas upland complex notophyll vine forest environments respond either positively or negatively to temperature, depending on precipitation. Highland rainforest environments (simple notophyll and simple microphyll vine fern forests and thickets), the habitat for many of the region's endemic vertebrates, decrease by 50% with only a 1 °C warming. Estimates of the stress to present forests resulting from spatial shifts of forest environments (assuming no change in the present forest distributions) indicate that several forest types would be highly stressed by a 1 °C warming and most are sensitive to any change in rainfall. Most forests will experience climates in the near future that are more appropriate to some other structural forest type. Thus, the propensity for ecological change in the region is high and, in the long term, significant shifts in the extent and spatial distribution of forests are likely. A detailed spatial analysis of the sensitivity to climate change indicates that the strongest effects of climate change will be experienced at boundaries between forest classes and in ecotonal communities between rainforest and open woodland.
Forests NSW (Australia) recently became the first body in the world to trade carbon credits arising from forests in a greenhouse gas abatement scheme. In February this year, Forests NSW was fully accredited as an abatement certificate provider under the New South Wales Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme. It has since registered 166,005 certificates, each equivalent to one tonne of carbon dioxide.
(from NSW Department of Primary Industries)
Forestry investors are calling on the Government to relinquish carbon credits from forests and allow forest owners to own and trade them. They say the Government's embarrassing Kyoto blunder would be solved because forestry would be much more economic with carbon credits and planting would take off again. Plantings after 1990 create carbon sinks, which earn credits.
An extraordinary research effort in the Amazon starved a tropical forest of rain and provides a glimpse of the potential effects of climate change.
By Joseph Stiglitz
The developed world ought to support the Rain-forest Initiative led by Papua New Guinea and Costa Rica, under which countries would be compensated for not cutting down carbon-sinking forests. British Prime Minister Tony Blair has promised that the G-8 meeting on July 6-8 at Gleneagles, Scotland, which he will chair, will focus on two of the most important and long-standing global problems—Third-World poverty and global warming.
(from Economic Times)
The Afforestation and Reforestation Working Group met at the UNFCCC Headquarters (Bonn) on 13 - 14 June 2005 and elaborated among others on the following items:
New Methodologies: The working group assessed five newly proposed methodologies for AR CDM projects and recommended to the CDM Executive Board not to approve three proposals:
ARNM0003 "The International Small Group & Tree Planting Program (TIST)"
ARNM0004 "Treinta y Tres afforestation combined with livestock intensification"
ARNM0005 "The Mountain Pine Ridge Reforestation Project (MPR Project)"
ARNM0006 "Bagepalli CDM Afforestation Programme" and ARNM0007 "Moldova Soil Conservation Project" were preliminary recommended for approval.
Small scale AR CDM: The working group started the development of simplified methodologies for small-scale afforestation and reforestation CDM project activities. It agreed to launch a call for public inputs to be posted on the UNFCCC CDM web site tentatively from 5 July to 8 August 2005.
Draft tool for the demonstration of additionality in A/R CDM projects: The draft tool had been recommended to the CDM EB and can be downloaded at http://cdm.unfccc.int/Panels/ar/ARWG04_Annex1_AR_Additionality_Tool.pdf
For more information please see: http://cdm.unfccc.int/Panels/ar
Workshop results on “Facilitating Forestry Mitigation Projects in India: Promoting Stakeholder Dialogue and Capacity Building”
ICFRE, Dehra Dun, India, June 15th – 17th, 2005
Summary: An international workshop was organized by Indian Council of Forestry Research & Education, Dehra Dun, India in partnership with Joanneum Research, Austria and Freiburg University, Germany. This workshop was part of the project funded by European Union within the Small Projects Facility Programme in Economic Co-operation. Presentations were made on the following themes by delegates from several countries including India:
o Background and setting the scene for Forestry CDM Project in India
o The Barriers to Forestry CDM projects
o Enabling Environment for A&R CDM Projects
o Key Considerations in Project development
A brainstorming session was organized with three breakup groups to deliberate on the matters of policy, institutional issues for promoting forestry mitigation projects in India and definition of ‘forests’ under CDM. It was also felt that these issues need to be deliberated upon in several other fora.
There was consensus that the role of sinks projects including A&R projects in climate change mitigation needs to be strategized both nationally and globally, particularly for the commitment periods beyond 2012. There was tremendous response for participation in the workshop so much so that all interested could not be accommodated. The workshop results, proceedings, presentations and other information will shortly be available at:
Date: October 28-29, 2005
Venue: Hamburg Institute of International Economics, Germany
Codified in the internationally agreed Millennium Development Goals, poverty reduction has become the single major objective of development activities. International donor agencies and developing country governments alike try to demonstrate their efforts to focus on this joint objective. At least at first glance fully unrelated to this objective, however, climate policy, driven by the dynamics of the Kyoto Protocol has evolved to become one of the most prospering areas of bilateral development cooperation.
Themes: Is there a hidden relationship between poverty alleviation and climate policy in developing countries? Is poverty alleviation simply a lip service of development policy while other policies, in the interest of private CDM investors or local climate negotiators dominate in practice? Which kind of interests could be involved and could one imagine institutional structures, both within developing countries and at the level of donor agencies that would foster a true synergy between climate policy and poverty alleviation? Which would be the climate policy related activities which could create most synergies? Does the CDM in its current practice really foster development? How can adaptation reach the poor? To what extent is cooperation in climate policy truly additional to other development finance?
Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWA)
Research Programme on International Climate Policy
Neuer Jungfernstieg 21
20347 Hamburg (Germany)
Phone: +49 40 42834-349
Date: July 25-26, 2005
Venue: University of Bristol, Earth Science Department, Bristol, UK
About the workshop: The workshop will bring together leading experts in sustainable forestry with a focus on tropical countries and Europe. Its aim is to define a set of key questions and suggested methodologies for a research agenda that would eventually lead to concrete policy recommendations for the promotion of positive synergies between carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation and other ecosystem services, as well as local development. The workshop should also serve as communication platform for interested parties and collect information about previous and on-going relevant research and other activities.
More information about QUEST is available on http://quest.bris.ac.uk
Dr. Wolfgang Knorr
Elsevier, 484 pages
Description: The chapters in this book present a snapshot of the state of knowledge of air pollution effects at the beginning of the 21st century. From their different disciplines, a distinguished collection of authors document their understanding of how leaves, trees, and forests respond to air pollutants and climate change. Scenarios of global change and air pollution are described. The authors describe responses of forests to climate variability, tropospheric ozone, rising atmospheric CO2, the combination of CO2 and ozone, and deposition of acidic compounds and heavy metals. The responses to ozone receive particular attention because of increasing concern about its damaging effects and increasing concentrations in rural areas. Scaling issues are addressed - from leaves to trees, from juvenile trees to mature trees, from short-term responses to long-term responses, and from small-scale experiments and observations to large-scale forest ecosystems. This book is one major product of a conference sponsored by the International Union of Forestry Research Organizations, the USDA Forest Service Global Change Northern Stations Program, the Arthur Ross Foundation, NCASI, the Canadian Forest Service, and Michigan Technological University.
National System of Greenhouse Gas Reporting for Forest and Nature Areas under UNFCCC in the Netherlands
Nabuurs, G.J. - van den Wyngaert, I.J. – Daamen, W.D. – Helmink, A.T.F. – de Groot, W. – Knol, W.C. – Kramer, H. – Kuikman, P. (2005)
Alterra-report 1035.1, Wageningen
Abstract: The Netherlands as being a Party to the United Nations Framework Convention on ClimateChange (UNFCCC) has the obligation to design and operationalise a national system for the Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry sector (LULUCF). This report presents such a semi dynamic system for forests and other nature terrains (trees outside forests, heathland, peat, and sandy areas) in The Netherlands. With this system a full account for carbondioxide and other greenhouse gas balance is presented and recalculated for 1990 – 2002 at a Tier 2 level. These figures have been submitted in the NIR of 2005. The carbon balance for living biomass, dead wood, litter and soil organic carbon is presented for forests remaining forests and for other land uses changing to and from forests. The land use changes between 1990 and 2000 showed that The Netherlands has an annual deforestation of 2504 ha (0.7% of the forest area) and an afforestation of 3124 ha. Deforestation led in total over the thirteen years of 1990 – 2002 to an emission of 11.2 million ton CO2 compensated by only 1.9 million ton CO2 due to afforestation. The net sink of all processes of the forest and other nature terrains balance is very stable through time around an average of 1.74 million ton of CO2 per year with a standard deviation of 88 kton. The sink is to a large extent determined by the balance between growth of forest remaining forest and the harvest. Newly added processes in this new National System are significant as well, but they compensate each other. The sources from deforestation and N2O emissions (around 900 ktonne CO2) are for two thirds compensated by the sinks from afforestation, dead wood, soil C changes due to land use changes, and trees outside the forest.
Please find the report at: http://www.greenhousegases.nl/docs/AlterraNatSystLULUCFReport1035.1.pdf
International Emissions Trading Association
The Association is looking for a dynamic individual to act as our Policy Advocate for North America. Working in Ottawa, the individual will provide policy planning and implementation support for IETA’s advocacy efforts with governments in Canada and the U.S.
Specific responsibilities include:
o Developing a plan to encourage governments to adopt an approach to emissions trading which is workable, can be linked to international plans (i.e. CDM etc.) and is consistent with already established IETA principles.
o Assisting in the implementation of this approach by working with government and member firms to ensure that emissions trading is an important part of Canada’s Climate Change response.
o Working with IETA members and potential members to explain the work and gain their support and assistance in advocating IETA’s priorities.
o Assisting in developing a comprehensive response to existing position papers from government and other sectors.
o Developing an understanding of the linkages between Canada’s plan and those of other regions and countries.
Please send your CV and a covering letter including compensation expectations to Olivia Eckersley at firstname.lastname@example.org. For additional information visit http://www.ieta.org/ieta/www/pages/download.php?docID=1018
The International START Secretariat and the Pan African START Committee (PACOM) wish to announce fellowship opportunities for outstanding young African scientists engaged in global environmental change research leading to doctoral dissertation (see attached application form). These fellowships are supported through a grant from the Norwegian Agency for Development (NORAD) to START for regional capacity building for global environmental change research in Africa. Proposals should focus on some aspect of global environmental change in Africa. Awards will provide for tuition, research materials, and a small living allowance.
Applicants must be currently enrolled in a graduate degree program leading to a Ph.D. degree in an African university and have completed one year of doctoral study program. Applicants must have completed their Master’s degree (or equivalent). Candidates must be 35 years of age at time of application or younger. Applicants must be pursuing a doctoral degree related to environmental change in Africa.
Application Deadline is August 15, 2005. For further details see the International START website http://www.start.org/
The recently founded Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI) is establishing a research programme “International Climate Policy” with a focus on the UNFCCC-Process / the Kyoto Regime and on EU climate policies (see http://www.hwwi.org/). It is built up from the existing group in international climate policy with eight researchers with different national backgrounds and from different disciplines (see
http://www.hwwa.de/Projects/Res_Programmes/RP/Klimapolitik/FSP_Climate%20Policy_Start.htm at the Hamburgisches Welt-Wirtschafts-Archiv (HWWA).
We are looking for a candidate, ideally with the following features:
o Masters degree or similar in industrial engineering with strong background in economics
o Good knowledge in process engineering or energy technologies
o Interest in political economy, environmental economics and energy economics
o Strong analytical and organizational skills
o High motivation and ability to work both in teams and independently
o Interest to work in an international context, including frequent overseas travel
o Fluent English is essential and knowledge of French/Spanish would be an important plus.
o Knowledge of standard computer software
o Willingness to start working with us by 1 August or 1 September 2005
Please send your CV and brief motivation letter preferably by email or by mail by 10 July 2005 to:
Programme International Climate Policy
Hamburg Institute of International Economics
Neuer Jungfernstieg 21
Trexler Climate + Energy Services, Inc. (TC+ES) is an internationally recognized leader in climate change risk management and greenhouse gas emissions reduction and offset strategies. We are seeking to fill a mid-level policy analyst position. This position requires superior research and writing skills and strong quantitative skills, including advanced Excel skills. Visual Basic programming and Matlab experience are a plus. This is a full-time position in our office in Portland, Oregon, USA.
For the job description please see:
The Global Change Group at the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE) in Costa Rica is recruiting for a new Project on Tropical Forests and Climate Change Adaptation:
o A Project Coordinator, Regional Project Coordinator TROFCCA (Tropical Forests and Climate Change Adaptation) – Central America
o A Senior Scientific Advisor, TROFCCA Project
These are full time jobs (2 years with possibility of extension). Please find the job descriptions at: http://www.catie.ac.cr/bancoconocimiento/C/CAMBIOGLOBALPROYECTOTROFCCA/CAMBIOGLOBALPROYECTOTROFCCA.asp?CodSeccion=170
o Climate Change Project Coordinator, Asia Region
o Climate Change Project Coordinator, West Africa Region
o Climate Change Scientist, West Africa Region
Please find the job descriptions at: http://www.cifor.cgiar.org/docs/_ref/jobs/index.htm
This is a part-time (2.5 days a week), permanent position with a salary range of £22,095 - £27,595 depending on experience.
The closing date for all applications is Monday 4 July 2005.
Further information is available at: http://www.iied.org/people_jobs/jobs.html
International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)
3, Endsleigh Street London
WC1H 0DD United Kingdom
+44 (0)20 7388 2117 (tel)
+44 (0)20 7388 2826 (fax)
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by slowing tropical deforestation
By Environmental Defense
This website gives an overview on the current debate on avoided deforestation and possible roles in future commitment periods of the Kyoto Protocol. It includes links to related articles, presentations, information on country actions and a news section.
Visit the website at: http://www.environmentaldefense.org/article.cfm?contentid=4224
The objective of CLIM-FO-L is to be a forum for sharing current information and experiences about climate change and forestry amongst experts and non-experts. CLIM-FO-L will send periodically to subscribers synopsis of contributions, indicating how to obtain more detailed information on the topic. CLIM-FO-L is a service provided by the FAO Forest Resources Division, Forest Conservation Service (FORC).
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