Reference levels for
carbon dioxide emissions will soon be standardized for Southeast Asia.
The
new international agreement on climate change will include Reducing Emissions
from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) and the role of conservation,
sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in
developing countries (REDD+).
“The
proposed guidelines will have to be discussed at the highest levels because it
will impact on national policies,” said Dr. Gil C. Saguiguit Jr., Director of
the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in
Agriculture (SEARCA).
“Agreements
on guidelines, modalities, methodologies and approaches are being crafted to
move REDD+ towards implementation,” he explained. “ASEAN countries need to have
their interests and unique forest conditions accommodated in the negotiations
and agreements.”
The
Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)
groups Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand
Vietnam and the Philippines.
“It
will be difficult to standardize procedural details of the guidelines because
of the varying levels of national capacity, data availability, national forest
inventory and the unique circumstances of each nation,” he said.
“In
other words, the guidelines should provide operational details to make the them workable but at the same time allow more
robust application.”
Asean
has commissioned SEARCA to design cost-effective guidelines for measuring,
reporting, verifying and establishing reference levels for carbon dioxide
emissions caused by forest degradation.
Guidelines,
procedures, and methodologies for REDD+ implementation are still in a formative development. Currently, there is no
commonly agreed upon procedures and methodologies that apply to all situations
and scenarios.
“Hence,
there is flexibility in terms of approaches adopted, methodologies applied or
even the overall framework of implementation,” Saguiguit pointed out.
“It
is even conceivable that no common approach will be adopted by all ASEAN
members,” he said.
“Thus,
the guidelines should be presented with a checklist of potential methods,
criteria or considerations for their applications.”
SEARCA
will identify approaches and technical assistance needed for the implementation
of REDD+ as well as collaborative
research in the region.
Selective
logging and the occurrence of forest fires are the most likely aspects of
forest degradation among Asean countries that need to be studied
collaboratively.
Another
research interest will be quantifying carbon stocks and carbon density among
different types of forests.
This
will allow density mapping across forests and forest types in the region.
Funded
by the Asean Australia Development Corporation Program (AADCP), the project
aims to enhance the regional grouping’s ability to coordinate REDD+ efforts to
address the issue of climate change and its impacts on member states.
It
will establish, for example, Reference Emission Levels as key entry
requirements for REDD+ programs as well as Guidelines for Measuring, Reporting
and Verification.
Reference
Emission Levels is the benchmark in assessing a country’s performance in
implementing REDD+ based on greenhouse gas emission reductions and removals.
They
serve as baselines for estimating reductions in emission. And they will
determine eligibility for foreign funding of related projects.
The
first step in establishing the Reference Emission Levels is to determine the
land areas that show decreases and increases in forest carbon stocks, or carbon
dioxide captured and stored in forests.
Under REDD+, carbon stocks should be reduced
by decreasing deforestation and
degradation and increasing forest carbon stocks through proper
management.
The
guidelines must be consistent with the Asean Common Positions, such as leaving
open the method for defining Reference Emission Levels. This implies
flexibility in the methods adopted for each country in establishing reference
levels.
Provisions
will be provided to allow justifiable adjustments, or use of alternative
approaches, that suit each national circumstances and data availability.
For
example, Asean countries will find it difficult to harmonize existing data with
possibly new data management systems that provide reasonably accurate picture
of carbon emissions and removals.
Hence,
harmonizing data will not be a primary concern at this time; data requirements
will be at the minimum but will increase as country capabilities improve and
data become more available.
The
guidelines should be based on sound science and limit bias that may favor
national interests.
For
this reason, the guidelines should adhere to the guidelines set by the
Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change.
Projections
of emissions should be based on historic emissions and removals while
international third party evaluators should make independent assessments of
projections.
SEARCA
will host a regional workshop to thresh
out potential areas of disagreements and
identify common interests.
Incentive
schemes and financing systems available for implementing REDD+ in Asean will be
outlined, including strategies to implement different scales, jurisdictions,
accounting and crediting schemes.
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