Validation of an advanced CO2 life cycle model and non-speculative Emissions Trading System in a digital platform for an efficient sustainable forest management

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

BACKGROUND

On 14 July 2021, the European Commission adopted a series of legislative proposals (“Fit for 55” package) setting out how it intends to achieve climate neutrality in the EU by 2050, including the intermediate target of an at least 55% net reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. The package proposes to revise several pieces of EU climate legislation, including the EU Emissions Trading System, Effort Sharing Regulation, and Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUF) legislation, setting out in real terms the ways in which the Commission intends to reach EU climate targets under the European Green Deal. In addition, the regulations currently under review explicitly emphasise the need to include the generation of carbon credits as a direct economic incentive for forest owners to store more carbon in their forests. In this respect, the LULUCF Regulation (EU) 2018/841 refers to the category ‘forest’ as ‘managed land forest’ and it defines ‘managed forest land’ as land use reported as forest land remaining forest land. Whereas it discriminates between ‘forest management’ and ‘sustainable forest management’. So far, this sustainability has been threatened by the lack of benefits for foresters from potential carbon sequestration credits resulting from their forest management. In line with the lack of financial reward, the Regulation (EU) 2018/841 specifies that it should not lay down any accounting or reporting obligations for private parties, including farmers and foresters.

 

OBJECTIVES

LIFE CO2 TOKEN aims to facilitate a system that rewards foresters for sustainable management actions that enhance carbon sequestration. The main objective of the project is to boost the incorporation of Sustainable Forest Management in an efficient and non-speculative Emissions Trading System, by means of new technologies integrated in a ‘CO2 Lifecycle’ digital platform. To do so, the project team will validate a novel methodology for measuring carbon dioxide (CO₂) absorption by sustainable forest stands, will design and implement advanced digital tools to generate a non-speculative market of carbon credits from forest masses. They will also demonstrate at large-scale the validation of new tools in European regions (mainly in Spain) to support owners (public and private) and forest managers involvement in the non-speculative market through sustainable management projects, and the wide transfer and exploitation of preparatory activities to use and promote the results complying with new and future European policies.

LIFE TOKEN CO2 has adopted the terminology currently used in the market. The Climate “Tokens” are a new unit of exchange designed to facilitate investments in the framework of voluntary offsetting or Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives (1 Token = 1 Credit = 1 Tn CO₂ eq). Unlike most digital carbon credit trading platforms, LIFE CO2 TOKEN incorporates a validated and certified tool for predicting the increase in CO₂ generation when sustainable forest management is carried out through a series of corrective actuations or measures. The final aim is to incentivise sustainable forest management by forest owners.

The project acquires special relevance in its commitment to the promotion of Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) as a tool for climate mitigation, through the application of European regulations on accounting for emissions and removals from the LULUCF sector. The project focuses on tackling the challenge of determining the actual carbon sequestration coming from the anthropogenic application of SFM. Thus, operative knowledge will be generated, allowing the integration of carbon sequestration criteria in Forest Management (FM) plans or CO₂ sequestration projects. Another aim is to facilitate the use of credits generated in the forestry field to offset emissions from other sectors.

RESULTS

Expected results:

• Validation of the ability of some remote sensing products to detect the change in net primary productivity (NEP) of forest ecosystems after silvicultural treatments (forest management).
• Statistical models (remote sensing based) to estimate NEP increment as a consequence of forest management.
• Implementation of large-scale trials with sustainable forest management techniques, in at least three different regions covering at least 180 ha, to assess the functioning of the model validation.
• A novel web-based tool for foresters and forest owners to help them optimise management practices to increase CO₂ removals and generate new initiatives, as a Decision-Support System.
• Creation of a web-based tool with a non-speculative market for the purchase and sale of CO₂ emissions.
• Preparation of the designed web-based digital tool for the addition of new modules demanded by the market.
• Validation and certification, using official standards, of the CO₂ absorption calculation model and the non-speculative market for the purchase and sale of CO₂ credits.
• Project exploitation strategy action plan suited to each type of partner, including IPR management, and implemented partially during the execution of the project.
• Studies around the replicability potential for further scaling up, including the addition of new species, tools and territories into the platform.