摘要:Carbon emissions from deforestation and degradation account for about 20% of global
anthropogenic emissions. Strategies and incentives for reduced emissions from deforestation
and degradation (REDD) have emerged as one of the most active areas in the international
climate change negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC). While the current negotiations focus on a REDD mechanism in
developing countries, it should be recognized that risks of carbon losses from forests occur
in all climate zones and also in industrialized countries. A future climate change
agreement would be more effective if it included all carbon losses and gains from
land use in all countries and climate zones. The REDD mechanism will be an
important step towards reducing emissions from land use change in developing
countries, but needs to be followed by steps in other land use systems and regions.
A national approach to REDD and significant coverage globally are needed to
deal with the risk that deforestation and degradation activities are displaced
rather than avoided. Favourable institutional and governance conditions need to be
established that guarantee in the long-term a stable incentive and control system for
maintaining forest carbon stocks. Ambitious emission reductions from deforestation and
forest degradation need sustained financial incentives, which go beyond positive
incentives for reduced emissions but also give incentives for sustainable forest
management. Current data limitations need—and can be—overcome in the coming
years to allow accurate accounting of reduced emissions from deforestation and
degradation. A proper application of the conservativeness approach in the REDD
context could allow a simplified reporting of emissions from deforestation in a
first phase, consistent with the already agreed UNFCCC reporting principles.