Forests and Climate Change: Cause, Casualty and the Opportunity to Capture Co-Benefits
2008
Files
Details
Title
Forests and Climate Change: Cause, Casualty and the Opportunity to Capture Co-Benefits
Author(s)
Seymour, Frances
Issue Date
Sep 03 2008
Publication Type
Conference Paper/ Presentation
DOI and Other Identifiers
10.22004/ag.econ.124521
Record Identifier
https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/124521
PURL Identifier
http://purl.umn.edu/124521
Language
English
Total Pages
8
Note
The relationships between forests and climate
change are complex and multidimensional.
Deforestation and forest degradation are now
recognised to be a globally significant source of
greenhouse gas emissions, and it is asserted that
reduction of forest-based emissions may be
among the least expensive mitigation options.
However, decades of unsuccessful efforts to
reverse high rates of deforestation and
degradation in the tropics have revealed the
fundamental failures of markets, governance and
policy that drive forest loss. New initiatives toward
‘Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and
Forest Degradation’ (REDD) will face similar
challenges, but could bring to bear new sources of
finance and political will.
Forests are also vulnerable to the direct impacts
of climate change. Warming temperatures,
increased variability of rainfall patterns and
increased frequency and severity of extreme
weather events will all affect the ability of forests
to continue providing goods and services to local
communities and to society at large. Because
healthy forests are more resilient to climate
change, sustainable forest management must be
given more emphasis in national adaptation
strategies. Forest-related mitigation and
adaptation strategies are also inter-linked: the
permanence of carbon currently stored in forests
is at risk from climate change, with some models
predicting significant loss of forests due to climate
change impacts.
Improved forest management in the interest of
climate change mitigation and adaptation offers
significant potential for co-benefits. The wealth of
biodiversity harboured by tropical forests currently
being eroded by deforestation and forest
degradation can be conserved through
management strategies that include biodiversity
as well as carbon storage and adaptation
objectives. While there will certainly be trade-offs
between efficiency and equity, REDD initiatives
provide a potential new source of income for rural
communities. Finally, the newly-felt urgency of
harnessing forests for climate change mitigation
and adaptation could accelerate long-overdue
reforms in the institutions and governance
mechanisms necessary for sustainable forest
management.