Climate Change and Forests: Emerging Policy and Market Opportunities

The global climate change problem has finally entered the world's consciousness. While efforts to find a solution have increased momentum, international attention has focused primarily on the industrial and energy sectors. The forest, and land-use sector, however, remains one of the most significant untapped opportunities for carbon mitigation. The expiration of the Kyoto Protocol's first commitment period in 2012 presents an opportunity for the international community to put this sector back on the agenda. In this timely, wide-ranging volume, an international team of experts explain the links between climate change and forests, highlighting the potential utility of this sector within emerging climate policy frameworks and carbon markets. After framing forestry activities within the larger context of climate-change policy, the contributors analyze the operation and efficacy of market-based mechanisms for forest conservation and climate change. Drawing on experiences from around the world, the authors present concrete recommendations for policymakers, project developers, and market participants. They discuss sequestration rights in Chile, carbon offset programs in Australia and New Zealand, and emerging policy incentives at all levels of the U.S. government. The book also explores the different voluntary schemes for carbon crediting, provides an overview of best practices in carbon accounting, and presents tools for use in future sequestration and offset programs. It concludes with consideration of various incentive options for slowing deforestation and protecting the world's remaining forests. Climate Change and Forests provides a realistic view of the role that the forest and land-use sector can play in a post-Kyoto regime. It will serve as a practical reference manual for anyone concerned about climate policy, including the negotiators working to define a robust and enduring international framework for addressing climate change.

About the Author :
Charlotte Streck is a founding partner and director of Climate Focus B.V., a Rotterdam-based consultancy on the international carbon market. Previously she spent five years with the World Bank.Robert O'Sullivan heads Climate Focus's North America office. He previously worked in the World Bank's Legal Department.Toby Janson-Smith is senior director, Forest Carbon Markets, with Conservation International's Center for Environmental Leadership in Business (CELB).Richard Tarasofsky is deputy directorof the Environmental Law Section within the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and Internation Trade.

Review :
" Climate Change and Forests is a timely summary of emerging policy and opportunities related to forestry-based carbon markets. Recommended." - CHOICE " Climate Change and Forests provides a helpful overview of the history of the agriculture, forestry and other land-use sector in international negotiations, a description and analysis of current policy. This book is a helpful contribution to the critical and challenging negotiations ahead." - H. Carolyn Peach Brown, Climate Policy "The book is a valuable and well-structured reference manual and contains a wealth of up-to-date information that will provide useful for both an academic and non-academic audience." - Tobias Plieninger, Ecological Economics "In a post-Kyoto context, Climate Change and Forests fills an important niche in the literature on global warming and its alleviation. Divided into four substantive sections, it deftly summarizes key policy and practical issues that must be considered if forestry is to play its indispensable part in emissions reductions." - International Affairs "The book provides an excellent historical background and describes the process and logic of negotiations, past and present. The multiple analyses of technical problems associated with carbon sequestration and forests make it valuable to both newcomers and veterans in the field." - Michael Obersteiner, Nature