Forests and global warming mitigation in Brazil: opportunities in the Brazilian forest sector for responses to global warming under the “clean development mechanism”
Section snippets
The Kyoto protocol and global warming response opportunities
The clean development mechanism (CDM) was included in the December 1997 Kyoto Protocol as a proposal from the government of Brazil to create a means whereby countries not accepting binding emissions limits could cooperate on a project-specific basis with countries that had agreed to limitations (Annex I countries) in reducing emissions. The CDM, defined in Article 12 of the protocol, calls for real, additional, and cost-effective reduction of net carbon emissions. The forest sector in Brazil
The place of Brazil in combating global warming
Brazil is not just any country in matters related to tropical deforestation. It is not just “one of the most important” countries: it is most important country both from the standpoint of remaining tropical forest and from the standpoint of current annual deforestation rate (and therefore in terms of potential emissions both on a total and on an instantaneous basis). Brazil’s “legal Amazon” region, composed of all or part of nine states, covers 5 million km2, of which 4 million km2 was
Permanent sequestration versus carbon ton-years
Carbon accounting needs to be done on a carbon ton-year basis rather than on the basis of “permanent” sequestration if comparisons are to be made between forest reserve creation and policies to slow deforestation. Ton-year accounting is also needed for comparing avoided fossil fuel emissions with silvicultural plantations and other mitigation options in the forest sector. Under a ton-year system, credit would be given for the number of tons of carbon held out of the atmosphere each year.
Carbon benefits
So far, Brazilian proposals for forest-sector response options to combat global warming have centered on plantations. Best known is the 20 million ha FLORAM proposal prepared by a group led by the University of Sa ̃o Paulo’s Institute of Advanced Studies[17]. Although the carbon calculations in the proposal exaggerate benefits by using the biomass of the plantations at the maximum point in the cycle (the point of harvest), and by considering only the process of carbon fixation rather than the
Crediting forest management
A response option such as sustainable management of native forest for timber may seem reasonable, theoretically stocking carbon in long-lasting wood products made from tropical timber. However, even under the unrealistically optimistic assumption adopted here of perfect compliance with management plans, sustainable management does not constitute a global warming “response option” when compared to native forest.
In addition, proposals for sustainable management as a response option invariably
Understanding the causes of deforestation
A prerequisite to any program to slow deforestation is that the causes driving it must be understood. Our knowledge of deforestation processes is still imperfect; contributions to better understanding the process therefore represent a key area in which effort is needed in order to avoid forest loss and consequent greenhouse gas emissions. A tremendous spectrum of opinion exists as to who is to blame for deforestation in Brazilian Amazonia; however, these opinions vary equally widely in the
Role of the private sector
Creation of opportunities for workable private–public partnerships is to be the task of a special sector that is currently in the process of being created within the Secretariat of the legal Amazon in the Ministry of the Environment, Water Resources and the Legal Amazon (MMA) (see: http://www.sca.mma.gov.br). Non-governmental actors also serve as intermediaries in matching interested private sector parties with environmentally beneficial investment opportunities (for example, the Brazilian
Conclusions
Deforestation avoidance has the largest potential for combating global warming in the Brazilian forest sector. Efforts aimed at policy changes have the greatest potential effect in this area, but much depends on how carbon benefits are counted. While much remains to be done to make deforestation reduction into a global warming response option that can demonstrate “real” carbon benefits as expected by the clean development mechanism, it is imperative that the needed efforts be made to develop
Acknowledgements
Paper contributed to the Aspen Forum on Implementation of the Kyoto Accord, São Roque, São Paulo, Brazil 18–20 June 1998. Portions of this discussion have been updated from Fearnside2, 19. The National Council of Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq AI 350230/97–98) and the National Institute for Research in the Amazon (INPA PPI 5-3150) provided financial support. I thank S.V. Wilson and two anonymous reviewers for comments.
References (57)
Global warming response options in Brazil’s forest sector: Comparison of project-level costs and benefits
Biomass and Bioenergy
(1995)- et al.
Soil carbon changes from conversion of forest to pasture in Brazilian Amazonia
For. Ecol. Mgmt.
(1998) Environmental services as a strategy for sustainable development in rural Amazonia
Ecol. Econ.
(1997)Amazonian deforestation and global warming: Carbon stocks in vegetation replacing Brazil’s Amazon forest
For. Ecol. Mgmt.
(1996)Forest management in Amazonia: The need for new criteria in evaluating development options
For. Ecol. Mgmt.
(1989)- et al.
Logging damage in planned and unplanned logging operations and its implications for sustainable timber production in the eastern Amazon
For. Ecol. Mgmt.
(1996) - et al.
Economic and ecological perspectives on ranching in the Eastern Amazon
World Devel.
(1994) - et al.
Carbon uptake by secondary forests in Brazilian Amazonia
For. Ecol. Mgmt.
(1996) - Raiffa H. Decision Analysis: Introductory Lectures on Choices under Uncertainty. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley,...
Monitoring needs to transform Amazonian forest maintenance into a global warming mitigation option
Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change
(1997)
A conservation gap analysis of Brazil’s Amazonian vegetation
Cons. Biol.
A disturbing synergism between cattle ranch burning practices and selective tree harvesting in the eastern Amazon
Biotropica
Deforestation, fire susceptibility, and potential tree responses to fire in the Eastern Amazon
Ecology
A saga dos com-floresta: O que não falta para os sem-terra são problemas ambientais
Parabolicas [Instituto Socioambiental, Sao Paulo]
Greenhouse-gas emissions from Amazonian hydroelectric reservoirs: The example of Brazil’s Tucuruı́Dam as compared to fossil fuel alternatives
Environ. Conserv.
Identificação de áreas para o florestamento no espaço total do Brasil
estudos AVANÇADOS
Comentários sobre o Projeto FLORAM
estudos AVANÇADOS
Cited by (60)
Strategies to reduce CO<inf>2</inf> emissions and increase temporary carbon stock in Brazilian housing using planted wood
2024, Environmental DevelopmentWhat matters in the distributions of clean development mechanism projects? A panel data approach
2021, Environmental Impact Assessment ReviewCitation Excerpt :Companies that hold CDM projects tend to take their environmental and social responsibilities more positively in Brazil, Mexico, and Peru (Benites-Lazaro et al., 2018), therefore, the welfare of the residents could be amended. The revenue brought by the CDM projects can be part of the incentive that makes Brazil continue its deforestation reduction (Fearnside, 1999). There is the so-called “double clean development mechanism”, as a CDM project, can reduce the emission of both CO2 and SO2 at the same time in some specific cases which indicates that there is more than carbon emission but also better air quality (Shimazaki et al., 2000).
Spatio-temporal relations between temperature and precipitation regimes: Implications for temperature-induced changes in the hydrological cycle
2013, Global and Planetary ChangeCitation Excerpt :In recent years, climate changes characterized by increasing temperature have been extensively discussed due to the considerable impact of increased temperature on eco-environment and the society (e.g. Fearnside, 1999; Cox et al., 2000; Kurane, 2010).
Scale mismatches and their ecological and economic effects on landscapes: A spatially explicit model
2008, Global Environmental ChangeCARBON STORAGE POTENTIAL OF DOMINANT MANGROVES IN WESTERN INDIAN SUNDARBANS
2023, Journal of Mechanics of Continua and Mathematical Sciences