Carbon Sinks and Climate Change: Forests in the Fight Against Global Warming (Advances in Ecological Economics)

251 Pages·2009·1.18 MB·English

by  Colin A. G. Hunt

Carbon Sinks and Climate Change
ADVANCES IN ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS
Series Editor: Jeroen C.J.M. van den Bergh, ICREA Professor, Universitat Autònoma
de Barcelona, Spain and Professor of Environmental and Resource Economics, Vrije
Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Founding Editor: Robert Costanza, Gund Professor of Ecological Economics and
Director, Gund Institute for Ecological Economics, University of Vermont, USA
This important series makes a signifi cant contribution to the development of
the principles and practices of ecological economics, a fi eld which has expanded
dramatically in recent years. The series provides an invaluable forum for the
publication of high quality work and shows how ecological economic analysis can
make a contribution to understanding and resolving important problems.
The main emphasis of the series is on the development and application of new
original ideas in ecological economics. International in its approach, it includes
some of the best theoretical and empirical work in the fi eld with contributions to
fundamental principles, rigorous evaluations of existing concepts, historical surveys
and future visions. It seeks to address some of the most important theoretical
questions and gives policy solutions for the ecological problems confronting the
global village as we move into the twenty-fi rst century.
Titles in the series include:
Joint Production and Responsibility in Ecological Economics
On the Foundations of Environmental Policy
Stefan Baumgärtner, Malte Faber and Johannes Schiller
Frontiers in Ecological Economic Theory and Application
Edited by Jon D. Erickson and John M. Gowdy
Socioecological Transitions and Global Change
Trajectories of Social Metabolism and Land Use
Edited by Marina Fischer-Kowalski and Helmut Haberl
Confl ict, Cooperation and Institutions in International Water Management
An Economic Analysis
Ines Dombrowsky
Ecological Economics and Sustainable Development
Selected Essays of Herman Daly
Herman E. Daly
Sustainable Welfare in the Asia-Pacifi c
Studies Using the Genuine Progress Indicator
Edited by Philip Lawn and Matthew Clarke
Managing without Growth
Slower by Design, Not Disaster
Peter A. Victor
Carbon Sinks and Climate Change
Forests in the Fight Against Global Warming
Colin A.G. Hunt
Carbon Sinks and
Climate Change
Forests in the Fight Against Global Warming
Colin A.G. Hunt
School of Economics, The University of Queensland, Australia
ADVANCES IN ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS
Edward Elgar
Cheltenham, UK • Northampton, MA, USA
© Colin A.G. Hunt 2009
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical or photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior
permission of the publisher.
Published by
Edward Elgar Publishing Limited
The Lypiatts
15 Lansdown Road
Cheltenham
Glos GL50 2JA
UK
Edward Elgar Publishing, Inc.
William Pratt House
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Northampton
Massachusetts 01060
USA
A catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Control Number: 2009930868
ISBN 978 1 84720 977 1
Printed and bound by MPG Books Group, UK
Contents
List of abbreviations vi
Foreword viii
Preface xi
Acknowledgements xiii
Introduction 1
1 The making of markets for carbon and the potential of forestry
off sets 8
2 Forestry in the Kyoto Protocol 33
3 Forestry in voluntary carbon markets 67
4 Biodiversity benefi ts of reforestation and avoiding deforestation 95
5 Measuring the carbon in forest sinks 121
6 Forests as a source of biofuels 144
7 Forestry in the climate change policies of selected developed
countries 166
8 Policies for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest
degradation (REDD) 187
Notes 218
Index 223
v
Abbreviations
A a ff orestation
AAU assigned amount unit
BTU British thermal unit
C c arbon
CAMFor carbon accounting model for forests
CBD Convention on Biodiversity
CCBA Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance
CCX Chicago Climate Exchange
CDM Clean Development Mechanism
CER certifi ed emission reduction
COP conference of parties to the UNFCCC
CPRS Carbon pollution reduction scheme
DBH diameter at breast height
DEFRA Department of Environment, Food and Rural Aff airs
e equivalent
ER emission reduction
ERU emission reduction unit
ETS emission trading scheme
EU European Union
FAO Food and Agriculture Organization
FCPF Forest Carbon Partnership Facility
FP for profi t
GHG greenhouse gas
Gt gigatonne
Ha hectare
IFPRI International Food Policy Research Institute
IMF International Monetary Fund
IPCC International Panel on Climate Change
ISO International Organization for Standardization
IUCN International Union for the Conservation of Nature
JI Joint Implementation
Kt kilotonne
LCER long-term certifi ed emissions reduction
ln l og number
LUCF land-use change and forestry
vi
Abbreviations vii
LULUCF land use, land-use change and forestry
M million
m meter
M&P Modalities and procedures
MSC marginal social cost
NCAS National Carbon Accounting System
NCAT National Carbon Accounting Toolbox
NGO Non-government organization
NP not for profi t
O oxygen
2
R reforestation
RED reduction in deforestation
REDD reduction in deforestation and forest degradation
RGGI Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
RMU removal unit
SBSTA Subsidiary Body for Scientifi c and Technological Advice
T tonnes
TCER temporary certifi ed emission reduction
Tg teragram
UK United Kingdom
UN United Nations
UNEP United Nations Environment Programme
UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
US United States of America
USEPA United States Environment Protection Agency
VCS Voluntary Carbon Standard
VCU verifi able carbon unit
VER verifi ed emission reduction
Foreword
Mankind is faced with the long-term specter of global warming and its
negative environmental and economic consequences. The need to respond
eff ectively to this threat is now more widely accepted than ever before.
However, on the eve of preparations to develop a successor to the Kyoto
Protocol, another problem has come to the fore: namely the global eco-
nomic recession which became apparent in 2008. It is expected to deepen
and continue for some time and in the immediate future will infl uence
government policies for addressing global warming. It has already done
so in Australia’s case. It seems likely that international negotiations at
Copenhagen in December 2009 to plan a successor to the Kyoto Protocol
will be aff ected by it; for example, emphasis may be on greenhouse gas
measures that add to employment in the short-term, and policies that
reduce employment are likely to be avoided.
Global warming is attributed by most scientists to the growing accu-
mulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere as a result of anthro-
pogenic activities, primarily economic activities. Carbon dioxide is the
main greenhouse gas accumulating in the atmosphere. Continuing global
deforestation is a signifi cant contributor to carbon dioxide emissions,
and other land-use changes (such as loss of other vegetation and organic
matter in soil) also add to these emissions. Forests are ‘doubly’ impor-
tant in fi ghting global warming: (1) on the one hand, deforestation adds
CO to the atmosphere as the carbon contained in the forest is burnt or
2
decomposes, and (2) an increase in forest biomass (or more generally
plant biomass) extracts CO from the atmosphere and stores it. Trees and
2
other plants (as well as some lower order organisms) that rely on photo-
synthesis for their continuing existence extract CO from the atmosphere.
2
There is biophysical evidence that the expansion of forests and tree cover
can signifi cantly help to reduce the rate at which CO is accumulating
2
in the atmosphere due the combustion of fossil fuels. Nevertheless, as
Colin Hunt makes clear in this contribution, governments cannot rely
just on biophysical relationships in developing policies to combat global
warming, even though it is necessary to consider these relationships.
The success of global warming policies and the contribution of forestry
depend on the deepness of the global cuts in emissions agreed. Within
countries, socioeconomic conditions and the formulation and execution
viii
Foreword ix
of these policies is considerably constrained by political considerations
and institutional structures.
Colin Hunt’s Carbon Sinks and Climate Change: Forests in the Fight
Against Global Warming provides a timely and constructively critical
analysis of the prospects for using forest policy to combat global warming.
The initial focus in his book is on the use of economic instruments such
as tradable carbon credits, market systems, subsidies and taxes and other
economic measures to achieve desired goals. However, Hunt’s fi ndings
in this regard are tempered by his consideration of the constraints on
forest policy imposed by political structures and environments as well as
the transaction costs involved in the implementation and monitoring of
compliance. In addition, constraints generated by previous policy choices
are considered. Thus some path-dependence is recognized in the develop-
ment of global warming policies. Consequently, global warming policies
based on neoclassical economic analysis (which has been center-stage) are
modifi ed by taking into account features of importance in both old and
new institutional economics. There is overriding emphasis on the practi-
cality of policies. A narrow economic approach is avoided. This is to be
welcomed.
A feature of this book is its careful attention to current global warming
policies aff ecting forestry. After providing a very useful overview of the
subject matter of this book and an accessible general outline of carbon
policies and forestry off sets, Hunt gives particular attention to forestry in
the Kyoto Protocol and the development of voluntary carbon markets.
However, optimal land use is not just about carbon sequestration. For
example, forests have multiple attributes, of which their role as carbon
sinks is just one. One important aspect of forests is their contribution to
biodiversity conservation. As pointed out and discussed by Hunt, forest
policy intended to moderate global warming needs to be modifi ed to
take this aspect into account. Further modifi cations may also be required
to allow for local and regional environmental spillovers generated by
forests.
Hunt also considers the problem of measuring the amount of carbon
contained in forests as well as new challenges that are likely to arise in the
future as forests start to be used to produce biofuels. As underlined by
Hunt, many policies to produce biofuels add to greenhouse gas emissions
rather than reduce these when the whole chain of production is taken into
account. A large-scale switch out of food crops to growing plantations for
carbon credits in developed countries needs to be monitored for its eff ect
on global food prices and on emissions elsewhere.
At the personal level, Hunt has been actively involved for some years in
aff orestation and reforestation projects as a volunteer. He therefore values