The European Union (EU) (click here) has adopted a carbon-based accounting system for measuring how forest management practices can help mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The EU will use the approach as the scientific basis for integrating the land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector in its climate strategy.
The new accounting system calculates the effect of forests on GHG mitigation by using factual evidence rather than forecasts of projected future policy impacts, an approach implemented under the Kyoto Protocol. This change addresses challenges with previous reporting systems, which used forest reference levels that included assumed effects of future policy impacts, resulting in unverifiable estimates based on counterfactual scenarios. The EU’s new system uses a fact-based carbon accounting system that sets reference levels based on documented historical forest management practices rather than projected future policy impacts....
