5. Concluding Discussion
There are two issues associated with wood products as shown in Figure 8. The separation is a result of the stock change approach adopted in forests.
Figure 8. The IPCC Default approach to calculate change in forest stocks implies the carbon removed from the forest is an exchange with the atmosphere. If the Stock Change approach is also adopted for products, it assumes the flow into the products is an exchange with the atmosphere.
The first issue is the timing of emissions from harvested biomass, particularly those resulting from Article 3.3 activities. The default assumption is that emissions are reported at the time of harvest. This was acknowledged as "clearly not strictly accurate …. but is considered a legitimate, conservative assumption for initial calculations". The objective of IPCC Good Practice Guidance for inventories is to neither over- nor under-estimate emissions and removals and to reduce uncertainties as far as possible. This objective has been pursued for all biomass except harvested logs.
The second issue relates to policies and measures that Parties might implement in order to increase the carbon stocks in wood products. This might include encouraging consumers to change their behaviour e.g. retaining wood products longer, recycling and re-use, or favouring wood over non-wood materials.
The Simple Decay approach would satisfy many of the objectives and concerns expressed by Parties in submissions. It may initially be adopted for the harvesting emissions, by delaying the emissions, but retaining the current assumption that emissions are reported by the producer. The reporting obligation could be transferred to the consumer on the basis of trade data, but this may have implications on trade in wood and non-wood products.
The focus on environmental integrity and consistent outcomes should be applied to the Technical Paper to be developed by the UNFCCC Secretariat. Appendix 1 includes a matrix that might be helpful in this regard.
Contact for Enquiries
Policy Analyst - Forestry
Innovation and Research
MAF Policy
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
PO Box 2526
Wellington
NEW ZEALAND
Tel: +64 4 894 0100
Fax: +64 4 894 0741
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