Submission of Views from the Woods Hole Research Center

on

Reducing emissions from deforestation in developing countries: approaches to stimulate action (FCCC/CP/2005/L.2, paragraph 2)

March 31, 2006

Woods Hole Research Center senior scientist Richard A. Houghton

Woods Hole Research Center Senior Scientist & Deputy Director Richard A. Houghton

The Woods Hole Research Center (as an accredited observer) puts forward to the UNFCCC Secretariat the following general principles on the issue of “Reducing emissions from deforestation in developing countries” for consideration in the design of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction strategies (Re: FCCC/CP/2005/L.2, paragraph 2):

  • Global warming may be addressed by reducing GHG emissions from tropical deforestation as well as by reducing GHG emissions from fossil fuel combustion.
  • Tropical landscapes provide many ecological, cultural, and economic services that should be considered in the design of GHG emission reduction strategies.
  • Carbon credits represent the largest potential flow of revenue in support of sustainable development in tropical forest regions, because most of the ecological services provided by these ecosystems (biodiversity, hydrology, soil maintenance, etc) do not have market mechanisms to promote their conservation.
  • Carbon emissions can be reduced from tropical landscapes through financial investments (e.g., parks and indigenous reserves work in inhibiting deforestation; command-and-control implementation of environmental legislation is improving; new economic incentives are favoring compliance with environmental legislation).
  • Despite occasional burning, tropical forests hold more carbon per unit area (and thus keep more carbon out of the atmosphere) than lands without trees.
  • Satellite imagery can provide information on changes in forest area (deforestation, reforestation, and afforestation) and carbon stocks. This information enables sources and sinks of carbon to be determined over large areas.
  • The development within tropical countries of technical capabilities for monitoring GHG emissions helps foster the participation of those countries in international agreements.
Point of contact at Woods Hole Research Center for content of this statement:
Dr. Richard A. Houghton
Deputy Director and Senior Scientist
Tel: 508-540-9904, x116
   Designated point of contact at Woods Hole Research Center for climate change:
Ms. Judith Fenwick
Research Associate
Tel: 508-540-9904, x121

The Woods Hole Research Center is dedicated to science, education, and public policy for a habitable Earth, seeking to conserve and sustain forests, soils, water, and energy by demonstrating their value to human health and economic prosperity. The Center sponsors initiatives in the Amazon, the Arctic, Africa, Russia, and North America, including the Mid-Atlantic, New England, and Cape Cod. Center programs focus on the carbon cycle, forest function, landcover/land use, water cycles and chemicals in the environment, as well as policy.