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