Latest views from Parties on LULUCF within the Climate Negotiations

The Bonn Climate Change Talks kicked off today.

Coming into these meetings, several Parties expressed their views on the treatment of land use, land-use change and forestry. You can find these submissions online in two parts (part 1; part 2).

I have pulled out what I feel are the main points of the submissions. This is rough (especially the formatting), but I thought you might find it a useful summary/guide. But don't quote me, read them yourselves! (Please note that part 2 is not included in this summary (submission from Chile)).

Australia:
- Full factoring out of all non-anthropogenic emissions
- Land-based planning in 3 CP
- Account for forest management in national totals (Annex A)
- Using rolling averages for LULUCF accounting

Belarus:
- Include wetland restoration
- Also include wetland conservation

Canada:
- Forward-looking baseline to project business-as-usual emissions and remove all natural disturbance emissions
- Set emissions to zero for carbon-saturated croplands
- Include HWP
- Consider no limits on use of LULUCF CDM

Coalition of Rainforest Nations
- Mandatory land-based accounting
- Debit rule for carrying over debits to future commitment periods
- Any standard of methodology as long as you can demonstrate you aren’t over-estimating credits
- Use production method for HWP

China
- Use current rules
- No new activities
- Keep 1990 base year
- LULUCF rules do not need to be completed before targets discussion

EU
- Bar including country-specific bars
- Band (including band to zero)
- Land-based accounting option (still includes discounts, limits, bar)
- HWP: production approach option; stock approach option; restricted stock approach option (only accounting HWP of domestic origin)
- Factoring out focused on Force Majeure

Iceland
- Wetland restoration
- Devegetation as part of revegetation

India
- Limit on LULUCF (preferably same limit for all activities)
- No Kyoto amendments
- No new activities unless they plug loopholes
- Force Majeure could be applied in a restricted way
- No to land-based accounting

Indonesia
- Don’t link directly to targets
- Add devegetation to revegetation
- Forest management definition should include forest degradation
- Wetland restoration and degradation unless for food production
- Support planted production forest definition
- Supports limited force majeure definition, consistent with Tuvalu
- Supports introducing SFM certification

Japan
- Gross-net
- Strict activities-based accounting approach to deal with factoring out
- Mandatory accounting and continued accounting in subsequent CPs must be reviewed based on changes in rules
- HWP only products from forest accounting under 3.4 (but this also excludes existing stocks)
- Country-specific bar based on a number of factors including ‘continuation of national forest policies’
- Criteria for factoring out (prefer restricted approach)
- No to land-based accounting

Malaysia
- No loopholes
- Limit
- Alternatives to temporary credits

New Zealand
- Credit/debit rule; planted production forests
- Factoring out should relate to extraordinary disturbances…could be based on threshold percentage of total AAUs
- Support bar as best articulation of business as usual
- HWP:
o ‘Emissions to atmosphere approach’
o Factor out but keep HWP credits!!
o Not support instant oxidation of exports
o Not support instant oxidation of short-lived products
o Include in CDM
- No to land-based accounting
- CDM: A-1 Parties could take on the responsibility for impermanence as an alternative to temporary credits

Russia
- Support split between forests and planted production forests
- Restricted forest definition (larger areas, 30-50 percent canopy cover)
- ARD area threshold changed (from 1 ha to 100,000 ha)
- Support bar
- Support band (including band to zero)
- Forward-looking baseline as a bar option

Saudi Arabia
- Use full LULUCF mitigation potential

Singapore
- AR should be eligible on wetlands
- Peat fires should be treated as anthropogenic
- Broad definition of HWP to include other products (e.g. resins)
- Support option 2 (land-based) with phased approach

Switzerland
- Support addition of wetland management with minor variation
- Compulsory 3.4 accounting
- Discount rate to all LULUCF credits/debits
- HWP
o Don’t accounting existing pools
o Don’t account imported non-A1 pools
o Can claim exported if importer doesn’t