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      1. Reducing Impacts
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          1. Forest Loss & Climate

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation

Garamba National Park - The Dungu River which weaves its way along the southern boundary. Democratic Republic of Congo. Project number: ZR0009.

Forests have a critical role to play in the fight against global warming. They are the the largest storehouse of carbon on Earth and, after coal and oil, are the third biggest source of carbon emissions.

Forests are also impacted by climate change - rising temperatures make forests drier, more susceptible to fires, and vulnerable to pests and diseases. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that at least a third of the world’s remaining forests may be adversely affected by changing climate.

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Home to much of the world's biodiversity, forests have significant values, both as a provider of goods (food, medicine, timber, construction materials, etc) and services (purifying air, preserving watersheds, stabilizing soil and preventing erosion, etc).

Today, forests are widely recognised for many environmental services they provide to society. But when they are destroyed or degraded forests can become a major emitter of greenhouse gases such as CO2.

Deforestation, particularly in the tropics, contributes about a fifth of global carbon emissions, and has negative impacts on biodiversity, local communities and indigenous peoples, sustainable long-term economic growth, air quality and other environmental and socio-economic goods and services.

When carbon emissions from deforestation are taken into account, both Brazil and Indonesia leap into the top 10 of the world's major polluters.


The following documents contain further detailed information about deforestation and climate change:

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Reducing forest-based emissions

Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) is currently not included in the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol, which ends in 2012. There is, however, growing international consensus that the protocol's second phase should include mechanisms that recognise and provide incentives for REDD.

Countries need to develop national frameworks to tackle forest-based emissions. There must be sufficient resources provided to address the drivers of deforestation. Developed countries must help by providing resources, including technology transfer. And provision must be made to ensure that as countries with high deforestation rates implement REDD initiatives, countries which up till now have low deforestation do not begin to cut their forests. These countries should be given incentives to protect their forests as they are likely to face increasing pressure to deforest to meet demand for forest products.

Paying to keep forests standing

FSC certification is helping to sustainably manage Canada's boreal forests.
Outside of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), there is already a growing market providing economic and financial incentives for offsetting carbon emissions. There is a need to ensure that the so called forest carbon projects are well-designed and do more than just reduce global warming. There needs to be social and environmental safeguards to ensure that biodiversity conservation, and the rights of poorer local communities and indigenous peoples are not compromised.

Boosting forest defences against climate change

Forests need to be kept healthy so they can maintain their biodiversity and environmental services, including carbon storage. This includes boosting forests' resilience and resistance to climate change by for example:

  • avoiding forest fragmentation;
  • improving forest connectivity;
  • preventing conversion to high-intensity forestry and encouraging sustainable use;
  • maintaining natural disturbance regimes such as fires;
  • actively managing invasive species; and
  • maximising the size of the forest management unit.
Whichever measure we take, we have to do it now.

 

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