The UNFCCC has posted some draft negotiating texts based on proposals from the Ad-Hoc Working Group on Further commitments for Annex I Parties
Notably, the Annex I of the draft text presents options to expand eligibility of Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) activities under Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) to include: Afforestation/Reforestation, REDD, wetland restoration, Sustainable Forest Management/Sustainable Land Management, Soil Carbon Management in Agriculture, revegetation/forest management/cropland management/grazing land management.
Annex II presents a proposal for a text on land use, land-use change and forestry, with a focus on Definitions. Significantly there’s a proposal to add a new term, “Devegetation”:
Devegetation. is a human-induced loss of carbon stocks of vegetation that does not meet the definition of forests. It includes the loss of vegetation on land, whether covered by water or not, and shall include areas of land or land covered by vegetation that is a minimum area of 0.05 hectares. Devegetation includes both living and non-living biomass and includes aboveground and below-ground biomass, including, inter alia, peat, swamp vegetation, shrubs, grasslands, sea grasses, mangroves, and seaweeds;
And an amendment to the definition for Revegetation:
Revegetation. is a direct human-induced activity to increase carbon stocks on sites through the establishment of vegetation that covers a minimum area of 0.05 hectares and does not meet the definitions of afforestation and reforestation above. If elected, the activity includes accounting for direct human-induced activities that decrease carbon stocks on land which has been categorized as a revegetation area and does not met the definition of deforestation;
These options have serious implications for the potential inclusion of land-based carbon (’biocarbon’) under a future agreement. Including emissions from devegetation, for example, would take into account an entirely new category of land uses including agriculture and mosaic areas.
The “Negotiating text for consideration at the sixth session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA)” is scheduled to be posted at the beginning of next week.
Source: Bonner Presseblog
Written by: ASB Blog Editor
