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Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) European Commission expert group on forest fires Antalya, 26 April 2012 Ernst Schulte, DG ENV on behalf of DG CLIMA
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Climate change, forestry and agriculture: what are the main issues? Forestry plays an important role in climate change and can help: Adapting forests to climate change Stopping deforestation Protecting the carbon sink in temperate/boreal forests Mitigating through carbon storage and substitution of wood products Through land use (change), forestry is directly linked to agriculture, the latter being a major emitter of Green House Gases, but with a potential to sequester carbon What role for LULUCF in EU‘s climate policy?
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1.Carbon removals/sink (new forests, increased and preserved C stocks in existing forests) 2. Reduction of emissions (reduce deforestation and forest degradation) 3. Carbon substitution (renewable source of energy replacing fossil fuel, wood replacing more GHG-intensive products) Mitigation options in land use activities include: Potential role of LULUCF in the EU’s climate policy
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Size of LULUCF LULUCF net removals amount to 9% of the EU’s total GHG budget Distribution The relative importance of the LULUCF sector varies significantly across Member States compared to global emissions
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EU climate policy Current instruments - EU Climate & Energy package, “20-20-20 target”: 1. EU Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) to contribute to 20% Green House Gas (GHG) emission reductions by 2020 2. Effort Sharing Decision (ESD): efforts in sectors outside ETS for emission reductions 3. Directive to reach 20% renewable energy by 2020 Emissions from agriculture partially included in ESD: Methane and nitrous oxide from agriculture - 10% of EU’s total GHG emissions (2009) CO2 emissions associated with agricultural and forestry LULUCF not included The European Commission is required to submit a report assessing how to include emissions and removals related to LULUCF in the EU as appropriate, propose how to include the sector in the EU reduction commitment
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Notation key: + Cropland management, ▲ Deforestation, – Grazing land management, ♦ Afforestation, and ■ Forest management. Unconnected symbols indicate reported data and connected symbols indicate model projections. Protect the existing sink Counter existing trends Increase the mitigation potential of the sector Sinks (-) Emission (+) Potential role of LULUCF in the EU’s climate policy Sinks are partly “natural”, but impact of policy drivers visible Overall decline in sink by 13% between 2005 and 2020
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Results from stakeholder consultation on LULUCF in late 2010 Creation, in 2010, of an expert group and consultancy study on possible inclusion of LULUCF into EU Climate Policy Framework http://ec.europa.eu/clima/events/0029/index_en.htm Stakeholder meeting on the role of agriculture and forestry in achieving the EU's climate change commitments in January 2011, discussion of policy options Stakeholders agreed that: -Land use activities can / should contribute to mitigating climate change -forestry activities should be accounted for on a mandatory basis -Nearly 50 % wanted accounting for GHG associated with some agricultural activities should be mandatory
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Principles for inclusion of LULUCF in climate policy Climate and energy package specifies criteria: Harmonised modalities for all 27 MS ensuring permanence and environmental integrity, accurate accounting rules and accurate monitoring Alignment with accounting requirements for LULUCF resulting from international negotiations Ensure robust accounting
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The way forward A gradual approach: 1.Setting the framework for robust accounting and monitoring: - The legal proposal on LULUCF - Proposal to improve monitoring through MMR - Separate legal framework for accounting - LULUCF Action Plans When harmonised and robust accounting is established, consideration could be given to formally include the sector in the EU climate commitment MMR: Monitoring Mechanism Regulation (under preparation)
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Accounting obligations -accounting at national level (not individual) -mandatory accounting for Afforestation, Reforestation, Deforestation (ARD) activities - mandatory accounting for Forest Management, Croplands and Grasslands - voluntary accounting for Wetlands and Re-vegetation - must account for carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide - a new pool for harvested wood products - emissions from natural disturbances may be excluded - goes further than Kyoto Protocol on Grasslands and Croplands
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Conclusions Reasons to include LULUCF in the EU’s climate change policy: Robust rules for accounting LULUCF and, through a separate act, improve monitoring; Improve visibility of mitigation measures in agriculture and forestry and for sustainable production of harvested wood products; Strengthen environmental integrity; Synergies with other policies on renewable energy and wood industry; Significant co-benefits for biodiversity, soil protection and climate change adaptation; Improve economic efficiency in the pursuit of a more ambitious target;
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Thank you for your attention! For further info on EU‘s Climate Policies: http://ec.europa.eu/climahttp://ec.europa.eu/clima or http://ec.europa.eu/clima/events/0029/index_en.htm
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