CHARACTERISTICS

Deforestation and land-use changes contribute to the removal of thousands of hectares of carbon sinks each year. Promoting development or replacement of such resources will have a significant, and relatively low-cost positive impact on offsetting emissions of greenhouse gases.

Institutions that promote and support improvement of carbon sinks can serve a valuable role in increasing the viability of and benefit to parties interested in improving carbon sinks. Development of standardized accounting procedures, and monitoring and verification guidelines, and training of independent "auditors" can facilitate increased use of carbon sinks to offset increased greenhouse gas emissions. As these organizations facilitate sharing of know-how and success stories, the complexity of subsequent projects is minimized.

Institutions that currently support improving carbon sinks include the U.S. Initiative for Joint Implementation, the Global Environment Facility, and the World Bank's Carbon Investment Fund. A significant number of bilateral agreements have taken place to improve carbon sinks.

SIZE:
N/A

FEATURES:
Without a mandate to reduce carbon, there is negligible incentive to improve carbon sinks.

COST:
N/A

CURRENT USAGE:
Several NGOs as well as multilateral organizations promote and/or support improvement of carbon sinks.

POTENTIAL USAGE:
Several countries have land-use policies that allow for protection/development of carbon sinks.

CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT

EMISSION EFFECT:
    

CONDITIONS FOR EMISSIONS MITIGATION:

• For a net carbon reduction, sinks must absorb carbon. If sink is to be harvested but subsequently replanted, the carbon will be offset.

EMISSION ESTIMATE:
Will vary according to the age and lifetime of the sink.

COST-EFFECTIVENESS:
Relatively low cost option.

SECONDARY EFFECTS:
N/A

ISSUES ASSOCIATED WITH IMPLEMENTING ACTION

• To ensure that carbon sinks investments achieve the stipulated capture (and validate the carbon offset or trade) over the lifetime of the forest, reliable monitoring and verification programs are necessary.

RESOURCES

• U.S. Initiative for Joint Implementation provides informational and instructional materials for developing carbon sink projects. Documents are available at http://www.ji.org.

CONTACTS

Global Environment Facility
Secretariat
Washington, DC
Tel: (202) 473 0508
Fax: (202) 522 3240
http://www.gefweb.org

U.S. Initiative for Joint Implementation
Secretariat
Washington, DC
Tel: (202) 586-3288
Fax: (202) 586-3485
Fax-on-Demand: (202) 260-8677
http://www.ji.org

World Resources Institute
Washington, DC
Tel: (202) 729-7600
Fax: (202) 729-7610
http://www.wri.org