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November 12 - forest carbon 1, Tutorial 4
November 14 – carbon (cont)
 Brief due
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November 18 (Monday) – EBM simulation
November 19 (Lecture) – comparative
November 19 (evening) – area-based simulation
November 21 – conclusion 1
November 26 – conclusion 2
November 28 – NO CLASS
December 12 – 3:30-5:30 final exam
November 12, 2013
2
November 12, 2013
3
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legitimate reductions in GHGs that should, if
properly regulated, play an meaningful role in
climate policy
or
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Sketchy subsidies that provide dubious
contributions to reducing GHGs, and should
not be including in sincere climate policies
November 12, 2013
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Emerging values
Forest Carbon 100
How forests can contribute to GHG mitigation
BC Climate policy
 General
 Forest carbon
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Policy Design Issues
Promoting Wood
Bioenergy (briefly)
conclusion
November 12, 2013
5
“British Columbia is already worldrenowned for reforestation. Now we
have an opportunity to increase the
amount of carbon our forests sequester,
and harness the economic potential of
carbon offsets. This will not only
strengthen the forest sector and the
communities that depend on it, it will
remove more greenhouse gases from
the atmosphere and help meet our
climate change goals.”
Pat Bell April 3, 2009
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November 12, 2013
6
There is a LOT of carbon in
forests:
 50% of the weight of wood is
carbon
 1 m3 of wood
= about 0.25 tonnes of
carbon
= almost 1 tonne of CO2
= about the same amount of
carbon as in 350 litres of
gasoline
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Carbon is stored in
many pools, and
emitted from and
added to each pool
over time
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Harvesting,
decomposition, and
fire emit greenhouse
gases to the
atmosphere (i.e. they
result in sources)
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Forest growth
removes or
sequesters carbon
from the atmosphere
(i.e. they result in
sinks)
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Emerging values
Forest Carbon 100
How forests can contribute to GHG mitigation
BC Climate policy
 General
 Forest carbon
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Policy Design Issues
Promoting Wood
bioenergy
conclusion
November 12, 2013
9
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Forests and forestry cannot solve the problem of climate
change and greenhouse gas emissions – but they can
contribute to the solution
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Forest management
can reduce sources
and increase sinks
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Forests are a
sustainable source of
products characterized
by long-term storage of
carbon, and they
supply bioenergy
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Afforestation
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Plant new forests on marginal agricultural land
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Avoiding deforestation (permanent loss of forest)
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Changing forest management
▪
▪
▪
▪
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harvesting practices
Rate of cut
Regeneration
protection against fire and insects
Use and disposal of harvested wood products
▪ Produce longer-lived products, substitution for emissions-intensive
materials, recycling, improve management of landfills
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Wood bioenergy
▪ Use wood for power generation, bio-fuels
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Bio-economy – displace petrochemical based materials
November 12, 2013
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November 12, 2013
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November 12, 2013
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Counted: Emissions from deforestation (i.e.,
releases at the time of deforestation and the
residual decay of dead organic matter) and
removals from afforestation (i.e., new trees
absorbing and storing CO2 from the
atmosphere).
Not counted: “normal” forest management,
natural disturbance
 82 million tonnes
▪ Increased 88% since 2007
November 12, 2013
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Emerging values
Forest Carbon 100
How forests can contribute to GHG mitigation
BC Climate policy
 General
 Forest carbon
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Policy Design Issues
Promoting Wood
bioenergy
conclusion
November 12, 2013
15
Agenda-Setting
Policy Formulation
Policy cycle –
implementation stage
 Policy design
 Strategic actor analysis
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Decisionmaking
Policy Implementation
Monitoring and
Evaluation
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BC climate policy
Affiliated climate policy
Struggling forest sector
November 12, 2013
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BC’s GHG emissions (including afforestation & deforestation)
Actual 1990-2007 emissions, and targets to 2050
80
2007
Million tonnes of CO2e
70
60
How best
can forests
contribute
to meeting
targets?
2020 target
50
40
2050
target
30
20
10
0
1990
2000
2010
2020
2030
2040
2050
Note: Targets as per GHG Reductions Target Act: 33% below 2007 level by 2020, and 80% by
2050. Interim targets established for 2012 and 2016.
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Climate Action Plan June 2008
Provincial reduction target:
 33% below 2007 levels by 2020
 80% below 2007 levels by 2050
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Public sector carbon neutrality by 2010
 Emission offset regulation
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Must use Pacific Carbon Trust
November 12, 2013
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No net deforestation
Forests for Tomorrow, $161 million 4-year
investment in reforestation
Trees for Tomorrow, urban forest tree
planting
Bioenergy Strategy
Promote use of wood
Forest carbon offset policy
November 12, 2013
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Offset: a net reduction in emissions created
when organizations invest in another
company's emissions-reducing activities
(PCT)
Permit or allowance: under “cap and trade”
system, legal authorization to emit certain
amount (they are tradeable)
Offsets can be part of cap and trade system
but are usually regulated
“Cap and trade” instructional video
November 12, 2013
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BC carbon offset policy and controversy
November 12, 2013
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Centre for Advanced Wood Processing, 2916
EBM Monday November 18
Relaxing Constraints Tuesday November 19
5:00-6:00 Initial Presentation from Caucuses (5
minutes each)
6:00-6:45 Facilitator Identification of areas of
agreement and disagreement
6:45-7:15 Dinner Break: Group meetings
7:15-8:15 Narrow range of disagreements
8:15-8:45 Establish consensus position or range of
option
8:45-9:00 Debrief
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