1. Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) European Commission expert group on forest fires Antalya, 26 April 2012 Ernst Schulte, DG ENV on behalf of DG CLIMA

2. Climate change, forestry and agriculture: what are the main issues? Forestry plays an important role in climate change and can help: Adapting forests to climate change Stopping deforestation Protecting the carbon sink in temperate/boreal forests Mitigating through carbon storage and substitution of wood products Through land use (change), forestry is directly linked to agriculture, the latter being a major emitter of Green House Gases, but with a potential to sequester carbon What role for LULUCF in EU‘s climate policy?

3. 1.Carbon removals/sink (new forests, increased and preserved C stocks in existing forests) 2. Reduction of emissions (reduce deforestation and forest degradation) 3. Carbon substitution (renewable source of energy replacing fossil fuel, wood replacing more GHG-intensive products) Mitigation options in land use activities include: Potential role of LULUCF in the EU’s climate policy

4. Size of LULUCF LULUCF net removals amount to 9% of the EU’s total GHG budget Distribution The relative importance of the LULUCF sector varies significantly across Member States compared to global emissions

5. EU climate policy Current instruments - EU Climate & Energy package, “20-20-20 target”: 1. EU Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) to contribute to 20% Green House Gas (GHG) emission reductions by 2020 2. Effort Sharing Decision (ESD): efforts in sectors outside ETS for emission reductions 3. Directive to reach 20% renewable energy by 2020 Emissions from agriculture partially included in ESD: Methane and nitrous oxide from agriculture - 10% of EU’s total GHG emissions (2009) CO2 emissions associated with agricultural and forestry LULUCF not included The European Commission is required to submit a report assessing how to include emissions and removals related to LULUCF in the EU as appropriate, propose how to include the sector in the EU reduction commitment

6. Notation key: + Cropland management, ▲ Deforestation, – Grazing land management, ♦ Afforestation, and ■ Forest management. Unconnected symbols indicate reported data and connected symbols indicate model projections. Protect the existing sink Counter existing trends Increase the mitigation potential of the sector Sinks (-) Emission (+) Potential role of LULUCF in the EU’s climate policy Sinks are partly “natural”, but impact of policy drivers visible Overall decline in sink by 13% between 2005 and 2020

7. Results from stakeholder consultation on LULUCF in late 2010 Creation, in 2010, of an expert group and consultancy study on possible inclusion of LULUCF into EU Climate Policy Framework http://ec.europa.eu/clima/events/0029/index_en.htm Stakeholder meeting on the role of agriculture and forestry in achieving the EU's climate change commitments in January 2011, discussion of policy options Stakeholders agreed that: -Land use activities can / should contribute to mitigating climate change -forestry activities should be accounted for on a mandatory basis -Nearly 50 % wanted accounting for GHG associated with some agricultural activities should be mandatory

8. Principles for inclusion of LULUCF in climate policy Climate and energy package specifies criteria: Harmonised modalities for all 27 MS ensuring permanence and environmental integrity, accurate accounting rules and accurate monitoring Alignment with accounting requirements for LULUCF resulting from international negotiations Ensure robust accounting

9. The way forward A gradual approach: 1.Setting the framework for robust accounting and monitoring: - The legal proposal on LULUCF - Proposal to improve monitoring through MMR - Separate legal framework for accounting - LULUCF Action Plans When harmonised and robust accounting is established, consideration could be given to formally include the sector in the EU climate commitment MMR: Monitoring Mechanism Regulation (under preparation)

10. Accounting obligations -accounting at national level (not individual) -mandatory accounting for Afforestation, Reforestation, Deforestation (ARD) activities - mandatory accounting for Forest Management, Croplands and Grasslands - voluntary accounting for Wetlands and Re-vegetation - must account for carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide - a new pool for harvested wood products - emissions from natural disturbances may be excluded - goes further than Kyoto Protocol on Grasslands and Croplands

11. Conclusions Reasons to include LULUCF in the EU’s climate change policy: Robust rules for accounting LULUCF and, through a separate act, improve monitoring; Improve visibility of mitigation measures in agriculture and forestry and for sustainable production of harvested wood products; Strengthen environmental integrity; Synergies with other policies on renewable energy and wood industry; Significant co-benefits for biodiversity, soil protection and climate change adaptation; Improve economic efficiency in the pursuit of a more ambitious target;

12. Thank you for your attention! For further info on EU‘s Climate Policies: http://ec.europa.eu/climahttp://ec.europa.eu/clima or http://ec.europa.eu/clima/events/0029/index_en.htm