Can forestry gain from emissions trading? Rules governing sinks projects under the UNFCCC and the EU emissions trading system

Review of European Community and International Environmental Law

Volumn 14, Issue 1, 2005, Pages 11-18

  Graichen, Patrick ^a  

^a German Federal Environment Ministry   (Germany)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EMISSION CONTROL; EUROPEAN UNION; TRADE-ENVIRONMENT RELATIONS;

EASTERN HEMISPHERE; EURASIA; EUROPE; WORLD;

EID: 20544443603     PISSN: 09628797     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9388.2005.00419.x     Document Type: Article

References (45)

1. Apart from the biosphere, oceans are also large carbon sinks. In this article, however, only biospheric carbon removals are meant when the term 'sink' is used.
2. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (New York, 9 May 1992).
3. Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC (Kyoto, 7 December 1997).
4. UNFCCC, Article 2.
5. Decision 11/CP.7 Land use, land-use change and forestry (10 November 2001), contained in document FCCC/CP/2001/13/ Add.1, at 54-63.
6. This document and all other UNFCCC documents quoted are available at .
7. Draft Decision -/CMP.1 (Land use, land-use change and forestry), as attached to Decision 11/CP.7, ibid., para. 1c.
8. Ibid., Appendix.
9. These activities include, e.g. the conversion of degraded land to grazing land ('revegetation'); a change in agricultural practices that increase the carbon content of soils ('cropland management'); or a switch to new fertilizing techniques that are less greenhouse gas intensive ('grazing land management').
10. See Draft Decision -/CMP.1, n. 6 above, para. 1(e).
11. Ibid., paras 1(a) and (b).
12. Ibid., para. 1(d).
13. Kyoto Protocol, Article 12. The CDM is 'a procedure under the Kyoto Protocol under which developed countries may finance greenhouse-gas emissions-avoiding projects in developing countries, and receive credits for doing so which they may apply towards meeting mandatory limits on their own emissions': see UNFCCC, Glossary of Climate Change Acronyms (UNFCCC, undated), found at .
14. Decision 17/CP.7, Modalities and procedures for a clean development mechanism as defined in Article 12 of the Kyoto Protocol (FCCC/CP/ 2001/13/Add.2, 10 November 2001), para. 10b.
15. Additionality' in this context means that emission reductions of CDM projects have to be additional to those that would occur in the absence of the project activity, see Decision 17/CP.7, ibid., para. 43.
16. 'Leakage' is defined in the context of the CDM as any net change of greenhouse gas emissions outside of the project boundary that is measurable and attributable to the project activity, see Decision 17/ CP.7, ibid., para. 51.
17. Decision 19/CP.9, Modalities and procedures for afforestation and reforestation project activities under the Clean Development Mechanism in the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol (FCCC/CP/2003/6/ Add.2, 12 December 2003), at 13-31.
18. Draft Decision -/CMP.1 Annex, Modalities and procedures for afforestation and reforestation project activities under the Clean Development Mechanism in the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol Decision 19/CP.9, ibid., para. 1.
19. Ibid., paras 8, 9.
20. Ibid., para. 1(i). These simplified rules were established by COP-10 in December 2004 in its Decision 14 -/CP.10 Simplified modalities and procedures for small-scale afforestation and reforestation project activities under the Clean Development Mechanism in the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol and measures to facilitate their implementation (FCCC/CP/2004/10/Add.2, 19 April 2004). They contain, inter alia, provisions for shorter timetables and the establishment of simplified monitoring and baseline methodologies.
21. Ibid., para. 23. A project baseline is the 'without-case' scenario, i.e. the estimation of emissions and carbon removals that would have occurred if the CDM project activity had not been implemented. A whole range of proposals was put forward to deal with the issue of non-permanence, e.g. average crediting, ton-year-accounting, mandatory buffers or mandatory insurance. For a thorough discussion.
22. see J. Ellis, 'Forestry Projects: Permanence, Credit Accounting and Lifetime', OCED/IEA information paper no. COM/ENV/EPOC/IEA/SLT (2001)11 (OECD/IEA, 2001).
23. Decision 19/CP.7, Modalities for the accounting of assigned amounts under Article 7, paragraph 4, of the Kyoto Protocol (FCCC/CP/2001/13/ Add.2, 10 November 2001), at 55-72.
24. These four units are: Assigned Amount Units (AAUs), which are issued for all Annex I parties in accordance with their allowed emission quotas; Certified Emission Reductions (CERs), which are issued for CDM projects; Emission Reduction Units (ERUs), which are issued for JI projects; and Removal Units (RMUs), which are issued for sinks enhancements in Annex I parties, in accordance with Articles 3.3 and 3.4 of the Kyoto Protocol.
25. See Draft Decision -/CMP.1, n. 17 above, Annex, paras 1(g), (h) and 36-50.
26. Kyoto Protocol, Article 12, para. 5(c).
27. See Draft Decision -/CMP.1, n. 17 above, Annex, para. 18.
28. Ibid., paras 1(a) and 21.
29. J. Penman et al. (eds), IPCC Good Practice Guidance for Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry, (IPCC, 2003).
30. See Draft Decision -/CMP.1, n. 17 above, Annex, para. 1(d)-(f).
31. Ibid., para. 24.
32. Ibid., para. 22.
33. Ibid., para. 12(c) and Appendix B paras 2(b), (c), (j), and (k).
34. See Decision 19/CP.9, n. 16 above, Recital.
35. Kyoto Protocol, Article 6.
36. Decision 16/CP.7, Guidelines for the implementation of Article 6 of the Kyoto Protocol (FCCC/CP/2001/13/Add.2, 10 November 2001), at 5-19.
37. See Draft Decision -/CMP.1 (Article 6), Annex, as attached to decision 16/CP.7, ibid., paras 21-23.
38. Ibid., para. 24.
39. Directive 2003/87/EC of 13 October 2003 establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community, [2003] OJ L275/32.
40. Directive 2004/101/EC of 27 October 2004 amending Directive 2003/87/EC establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community, in respect of the Kyoto Protocol's project mechanisms, [2004] OJ L338/18.
41. Ibid., Article 1, para. 2, new Article 11(a), and para. 3(b).
42. Ibid., Article 1, para. 8(b), amendment (0).
43. The CDM Executive Board is currently establishing guidelines for forestry CDM projects, including reference methodologies for baseline and monitoring. For more information, see .
44. For example, the World Rainforest Movement launched the initiative 'SinksWatch' to track and scrutinize carbon sequestration projects, see .
45. The 'Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance', a partnership among research institutions, firms and environmental groups, is developing and promoting a set of standards for evaluating climate, community and biodiversity impacts of land-based carbon projects, see .