FORESTS REPORT PANAMA (Part 2) - FRIDAY 7 OCTOBER

LULUCF report for Friday 7 October

Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) in developed countries

Background: Progress towards a decision in Durban on rules and accounting for land-use, land-use change and forestry in attempts to secure a second commitment period for the Kyoto Protocol.

Outlook from New Text Today:  Range of differences narrowed and constrained to the point where adopting a decision in Durban is a realistic prospect. But significant concerns and criticisms remain: 

·         Definition of forest remains so broad as to exclude conversion of natural forests to plantations (primary forests to secondary forests);

·         Backwards step – inclusion of wetland drainage and rewetting as an activity with mandatory accounting by developed countries is no longer agreed. Wetlands (peatlands) comprise only .3 percent of the world’s surface but are responsible for approximately 6 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

·         proposal to include harvested wood products (pulpwood and timber) in forest accounting will make a country’s greenhouse gas emissions appear less than they are;

·         burning of biomass (wood harvested for energy purposes) included in accounting but nullified by being included in the baseline from which net emissions are calculated;

·         rules for accounting of natural disturbances (forest fires, disease, draught) being developed in order to allow countries not to account for emissions that should be accounted for

Quote from Alistair Graham, Humane Society International (Australia): “Everything is an excuse to make sure that no matter what the question is, the answer is zero. As every tax accountant knows, you can invent accounting rules to avoid reporting liabilities to authorities.”