Forest sector seeks inclusion in emissions trading

Forestry could be included in emissions trading from 2013, experts believe. According to the Stern Report, the sector holds great potential since deforestation contributes more to global warming than transport.

The UN Framework Convention of Climate Change (UNFCCC) currently does not foresee concrete actions to include forestry in global-warming mitigation measures. But this could soon change, with the growing recognition of deforestation as a major contributor to global warming.

Sir Nicholas Stern's Report on the economics of climate change came to a stunning conclusion: the loss of natural forests around the world contributes more to global warming emissions than the transport sector. Deforestation is an issue chiefly outside Europe (South America, Asia). According to the Finnish Forest Industries Federation, the loss of forests globally is fourteen million hectares per year. But in Europe and North America, forests are growing at a rate of around one million hectares per year.

The conference of the parties to the UNFCCC agreed in November 2006 to explore a proposal by Brazil that would provide incentives to reduce deforestation emissions in developing countries. The issue will be further explored in March 2007 at a meeting in Bonn. A review of the Kyoto Protocol is scheduled to take place in 2008.