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BioCarbon Fund
Basics of biological sequestration
Harnessing the carbon market to sustain
ecosystems and alleviate poverty
The carbon cycle
Atmosphere
3.3
750
62.3
The
Global
Carbon
Cycle
6.3
About
16,000
1.6
60
500 Plants
Soil
2000
92.3
90
Oceans
Units
Gt C and
Gt C y-1
Fossil Deposits
39,000
The carbon pools
Each Party included in Annex I
shall account for all
changes in the following
carbon pools:
1. above-ground biomass,
2. below-ground biomass,
3. litter,
4. dead wood, and
5. soil organic carbon.
A Party may choose not to
account for a given pool in
a commitment period, if
transparent and verifiable
information is provided that
the pool is not a source.
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3
4
5
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What is allowed under Kyoto?
Some terms …
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Annex 1 countries – developed
countries with targets
Non-Annex 1 countries – the rest
(almost!)
UNFCCC – UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change
(Most nations are parties to it)
Kyoto Protocol – the agreement
on targets for GHG reductions
(USA, Australia and a few
dveloping countries have not
ratified it)
CoP – Conferences of the Parties
to the UNFCCC
MoP – Meetings of the Parties that
have ratified the Kyoto Protocol
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JI {Joint Implementation} – trading
between Annex 1 countries
CDM {Clean Development
mechanism} – trading between an
Annex 1 and a non-Annex 1
country
LULUCF - Land Use, Land-Use
Change and Forestry
GHG – greenhouse gases (carbon
dioxide and methane are the
important biological gases)
CDM Rules
• LULUCF1 activities under the CDM are limited to
afforestation and reforestation
• Avoided deforestation excluded; but currently
moves to have it included in a second
commitment period (post 2012)
• Forest management, agricultural management,
grazing land management area all excluded
from the CDM
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Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry
JI Rules
• The full range of Article 3.3 (Afforestation,
reforestation and [avoided] deforestation); and of
those elements of Article 3.4 (Forest,
agricultural and grazing land management) are
acceptable
UNFCCC Definition
Decision 11/CP.7
“Forest” is
• a minimum area of land of 0.05-1.0 hectares
• with tree crown cover (or equivalent stocking level) of
more than 10-30 per cent
• with trees with the potential to reach a minimum height
of 2-5 metres at maturity in situ.
• A forest may consist either of closed forest formations
where trees of various storeys and undergrowth cover a
high proportion of the ground or open forest.
– Young natural stands and all plantations which have yet to reach
a crown density of 10-30 per cent or tree height of 2-5 metres
are included under forest,
– as are areas normally forming part of the forest area which are
temporarily unstocked as a result of human intervention such as
harvesting or natural causes but which are expected to revert to
forest;
Afforestation and Reforestation
• “Afforestation” is the direct human-induced conversion of
land that has not been forested for a period of at least 50
years to forested land through planting, seeding and/or
the human-induced promotion of natural seed sources;
• “Reforestation” is the direct human-induced conversion
of non-forested land to forested land through planting,
seeding and/or the human-induced promotion of natural
seed sources, on land that was forested but that has
been converted to non-forested land. For the first
commitment period, reforestation activities will be limited
to reforestation occurring on those lands that did not
contain forest on 31 December 1989;
These definitions have no practical difference
10% projected crown cover
Crown cover = canopy cover = crown closure
Percentage of ground covered by a vertical
projection of the outermost limits of the
natural spread of the foliage of plants. Cannot
exceed 100%
10% projected crown cover
10% projected crown cover
10% projected crown cover
10% projected crown cover
At what scale is cover measured?
Exclude
Additionality and Leakage
What additionality is not
• Additionality is not a requirement that
some sort of additional effort should be
carried out – i.e. going beyond BAU
• Additionality is not achieved by simply
demonstrating that there will be less GHG
in the atmosphere if the project goes
ahead, than if it did not
Emissions Before Project
Watch this level
Annex 1
Total
Host
But Annex 1 country anticipates
it will exceed its target
Annex 1
Total
Host
CDM project initiated
Annex 1
Total
Host
Transfer of credit
$
Annex 1
Total
Credit
Host
2nd Case - Emissions
reductions/uptake planned before
Project
Annex 1
Total
Host
Host is already committed to
project
GHG in atmosphere
will fall without the
project
Annex 1
Total
Host
Transfer of credit and annex 1
increases emissions
But, CDM deal goes ahead and
Annex 1 country emits more GHG
$
Annex 1
Total
Credit
Host
Additionality
• In summary:
– The opportunity to engage in a CDM transaction (and
usually the incentive of a payment)
– must have caused a non-Annex 1 country to carry out
a project that it would not otherwise have started in
the reasonable future.
– The project leads to GHG being removed from the
atmosphere that would otherwise have not been
removed
– This creates a valid ‘credit’ that can be transferred to
the Annex 1 country to counterbalance its extra
emissions
How to demonstrate additionality?
• Usually by showing that the project is financially
attractive only with the funding/assistance from the
carbon transaction, or
• By showing that there are barriers to the activities in
the project that can be surmounted only via the
carbon transaction
• Is additionality ever fully achieved?
• In time additionality will become increasingly difficult
– Barriers will no longer exist
– Costs of implementation will fall making the carbon finance
less important
Leakage
• Some projects will lead to “offsite”
consequences that will partially negate the
atmospheric benefits of the project itself –
this is leakage
– e.g. Reforesting an area leads to displaced
cattle owners clearing forest elsewhere to reestablish pasture
– Increased income from agroforestry, leads to
higher demand for timber and fuel woods
leading to deforestation
Types of projects
Land rehabilitation
• Often community
based
• Usually small
plantings
• Complex
monitoring issues;
but we have
examples
• Modest carbon
contents
(<20 t CO2e/ha/yr)
• Usually clearly
additional
• Low leakage risk
Plantation forests
• Usually commercial enterprises
• Often high rates of sequestration
(e.g. 40+ t CO2e/ha/yr)
• Must be able to demonstrate
additionality
• Leakage is possible through
displaced land uses
• Best examples where the
reforestation is part of a wider
landscape project and/or is
contribution to land rehabilitation
Landscape management
• Multiple activities
including reforestation,
improved soil
management and forest
retention
• Socially and
environmentally very
desirable
• Complex to justify and
monitor
• Some activities not
eligible for Kyoto credits
Agroforestry
• Must convert nonforest to forest
• Significant gains
from carbon in the
trees; sometimes
from the undercrops; and usually
from improved soil
carbon
• Additionality usually
based on barrier
tests
Revegetation
• Use of vegetation other
than trees
• Often used for land
rehabilitation or to improve
pastoralism
• Low rates of sequestration
(<< 10 t CO2e/ha/yr), but
very large areas at
relatively low cost
• But not A&R under Kyoto
rules
Biofuels
• Replace the
unsustainable use of
fuel woods (eg from
cutting native forest),
with alternative
sources
– E.g. methane digestors;
sustainably managed
plantation fuel woods
• Troubled history in
the negotiations
Reforestation and pastoralism
• Good, biologically,
economically, socially
and in terms of GHG
reduction
• Carbon sequestered in
trees; methane
emissions from cattle
often reduced
• But complex to set up as
they must be split into
two projects because of
Kyoto rules
• Care in selection of the
tree species
Improved agricultural management
• Gains mostly through
improved soil carbon
• Usually community-based
projects with large
coverage
• Sequestration rates
c. 10 t CO2e/ha/yr
• Do not generate Kyoto
credits since they are not
A&R
Beyond A&R in the CDM
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Many activities with the greatest
value to developing countries
were excluded via the
negotiation process
Need to explore activities
accepted in Annex 1 countries
but excluded from the CDM
• Forest restoration,
revegetation, improved tillage,
and avoided deforestation (or
“forest conservation”)
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Subject to the same standards
as all other activities
• Additionality, permanence,
measurement, verification
Wider issues
BioCarbon Fund and Adaptation
Most Host Countries
are more concerned
with successful
adaptation to
climate change than
with mitigation
• Adaptation challenge: to increase the
biological and social resilience of
communities reliant on agricultural and
forest ecosystems
• Fund can act as a catalyst for changing
land-use practices
– Source of funding
– Demonstration of new
practices/crops
– Conservation of buffers, genetic
resources etc
Seeking synergies between the major
environmental conventions
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Climate, environmental and
livelihood goals
Compatibility with national
sustainable development goals
Local participation: communities,
NGOs, private and public sectors
Actions that assist adaptation to
climate change
Emphasis on managing the whole
landscape
UNCCD