PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Despite increasing awareness in the land use, land use change and forestry sectors (LULUCF) concerning climate change action, reflected in Decision 529/2013/EU, the emissions and carbon sink effect generated by sustainable forest management (SFM) strategies are not included in the EU’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction objectives (40% by 2030).
As it is not yet considered as a key tool, the climate change mitigation potential offered by SFM strategies is reduced. One of the main limitations preventing a value being put on forestry systems has been gaps in the mathematical models used for assessing the carbon sink effects of Mediterranean conifer forests. For this reason, the development of precise prediction tools, and their application through SFM practices for the conservation of natural carbon sinks, is one of the main goals in the context of mitigation planning. This will improve the knowledge base, and the accounting and notification system, for the carbon sink potential of the LULUCF sectors.
OBJECTIVES
The main objective of the LIFE FOREST CO2 project was the promotion of SFM systems in Mediterranean areas as a tool for climate change mitigation. This would be achieved through the application of European legislation related to the accounting of emissions and carbon sink removals in the LULUCF sectors. This would facilitate an integrated implementation involving the main stakeholders, including those responsible for offsetting through voluntary markets. Specific objectives included:
- Modelling and accounting of CO2 emissions and carbon sequestration as a result of SFM systems;
- Raising awareness and creating positive attitudes toward the role of forestry in climate change mitigation, among major stakeholders involved in the development of forestry projects;
- Encouraging a change in corporate culture towards a low-carbon economy within the business and institutional sectors, especially for diffuse-source related economic activities, through the promotion of the calculation, reduction and voluntary offsetting of carbon footprint; and
- Promoting forestry projects as a tool for climate change mitigation among the non-regulated sector, with special emphasis on the implementation of emissions offsetting systems based on SFM.
RESULTS
The LIFE FOREST CO2 project helped promote carbon sinks generated through sustainable forest management (SFM) actions as a tool for climate change mitigation, as well as a source of investment for non-community sector organisations through carbon credits to offset their GHG emissions. It modelled CO2 levels in line with SFM and provided these to private and public forest managers. Forestry stakeholders were further encouraged to become partners in promoting and enhancing the benefits of forest ecosystem conservation and the development of local economies. In this way, the project fostered a change in business culture, facilitating the transition towards a low-carbon economy through the promotion of voluntary carbon footprint calculation, reduction and offsetting.
Specific results of the project include:
- The commitment of forest owners, managers and technicians to 185 absorption projects, of which 68 have been fully implemented, increasing the area of SFM by 1 725.24 ha with net CO2 absorption of 116 206.76 tonnes.
- The commitment of 121 non-EU ETS organisations to implement reduction and compensation measures in the short and medium term, amounting to emissions saving of 12 276 t CO2-eq.
- The evaluation of the methodology by the French Ministry of Ecological Transition ahead of its integration into its official carbon offsetting initiatives.
- The development of an online application offering carbon sequestration simulations, while also providing a contact point for VCM supply and delivery.
- The creation of a proprietary VCM that has been officially integrated at national level and to date includes 23 854 075 tonnes of CO2 for sale to non-EU ETS organisations.
Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report and After-LIFE Communication Plan (see "Read more" section).
