Using LULUCF Carbon as a Tool for Rural Development Sara J. Scherr UNFCCC/SBSTA Workshop on Climate Change Mitigation Bonn, Germany – June, 2004.

Using LULUCF Carbon as a Tool for Rural Development

Sara J. ScherrUNFCCC/SBSTA Workshop on

Climate Change MitigationBonn, Germany – June, 2004

LULUCF is Essential to Climate Action

• LULUCF accounts for 20%+ of total global carbon emissions (IPCC)

• In low-income countries, land use & land use change account for most carbon emissions:

Indonesia – 75%Cameroon – 80%

• CDM one of many instruments needed to reverse these trends

UNFCCC

MDGsCCDCBD

Ramsar

Integrating Climate Action with International Agreements

Above-Ground Time-Averaged and Total Soil Carbon (0-20 cm) for ASB sites in Brazil, Cameroon and Indonesia (Tomich et al. 2002)

LULUCF: Restoring Carbon to

Landscapes

• Cash income for consumption or investment

Invest in LULUCF to Achieve the MDGs

• Improve agricultural & forestry technologies

• Conserve wild plants/animals critical for local consumption or farm inputs

• Rehabilitate critical ecosystem services

• Resources for community social investment

• Mechanism to create partnerships

Convention to Combat Desertification

(CCD)

Convention on Biological Diversity

(CBD)

Invest in LULUCF to Achieve the MEAs

Ramsar Convention

DESIGNING PRO-POOR PROJECTS

Ensure strong local participation

Enhance the profitability and sustainability of land uses

Select the most suitable compensation mechanisms

Ensure transparency in investor-community partnerships

Reduce project marketingcosts and risks

Brand projects and environmentally and socially responsible

Initiatives for rigorous project design on all criteria are already underway:

* Climate Community Biodiversity Alliance* CINCS* ECCM Three Conventions Partnership

Projects with co-benefits are more sustainable

Ensuring Rigorous Climate Impactsfor LULUCF

POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

1) Expand the scale of LULUCF in the CDM, for global climate impact 2) Expand the scope of activities allowed under the CDM3) Engage the rural development community when structuring internal trading schemes.4) Make LULUCF carbon strategies an integral part of national development plans5) Provide legal safeguards for communities and the environment6) Organize an international policy summit to explore synergies between the MEAs and the MDGs

THE FOREST CLIMATE ALLIANCE

* Advocates for national policies to link action on climate, biodiversity, and the MDGs through diverse market instruments

* Advocates internationally to link MEAs, UNFCCC, and the Millennium Development Goals

* Supports institutions developing forest C projects with low-income producers

* Links with the Katoomba Group’s ‘Ecosystem Marketplace’

Scherr, S.J. and M. Inbar. 2004. Using LULUCF Carbon as a Tool for Rural Development: Policy Recommendations to Link International Action on Climate Change, Poverty and Biodiversity. Forest Trends. Washington, D.C.

www.forest-trends.org