Lessons from the forest & climate debate
Book release on LULUCF from Kyoto to Copenhagen
Forests and forestry in developing countries are major sources of greenhouse gases that cause global warming, but they are carbon dioxide sinks at the same time. They will suffer from increasing temperatures, but they can also help humanity to adapt to climate change. Land use decisions play a pivotal role in climate change and in national development policies.
The book resumes over a decade of policy advice. It starts by focusing the global frameset of forest-related mitigation activities under the Climate Convention. The subsequent chapters shed light on the diverse underlying methodological and economic issues. The final chapter proposes how to collect funds for tasks of global common interest like the reduction of emissions from forests or supporting adaptation to climate change, while at the same time strengthening the commitment of the beneficiaries towards the international climate regime.
The book concludes that forestry as a means of mitigating climate change is special compared to other sectors, and that environmental risks in striking the balance between environmental effectiveness, cost-efficiency and equity are posing important challenges. Besides identifying the key issues in climate forestry, the book offers pragmatic solutions for the integration of forests into international climate policy.
The online version can be downloaded here.
GCS News
31 May 2010 - The Global Conservation Standard goes public!
Following the advise received when inviting over 100 expert reviewers, the revised first version of the Global Conservation Standard has been put on the website www.conservationstandard.org
Project proponents, potential investors and observers can now register and access the complete documentation. "The Standard is simple and transparent", Dr. Michael Dutschke, head of the GCS Oversight Organization, states, "It is a convincing framework for nature conservation, under both scientific and financial aspects". 