Prepared for the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA), 1 to 6 December 2014 in Lima, Peru
Carbon Market Watch welcomes the opportunity to provide input on discussions on specific possible additional land use, land-use change and forestry activities and specific alternative approaches to addressing the risk of non-permanence under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).
Specifically, Carbon Market Watch does not recommend the inclusion of additional LULUCF project types in the CDM for the following reasons:
- LULUCF activities in the CDM can create conflicts with adaptation to climate change
- There is no demand for additional sources for carbon offsets
- Non-permanent reductions from land use emissions cannot compensate for continued fossil fuel emissions – fossil fuel emissions reductions are permanent
Offsetting emissions through the CDM, which puts mitigation in the forefront and at a project level, is not an appropriate means to tackle emissions from LULUCF activities. In addition, carbon markets are not an ultimate tool to mobilize climate finance, due to asymmetrical resource distribution and low carbon prices seen in the CDM. There are several initiatives which address both climate mitigation and adaptation and where LULUCF activities would better fit. Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) represent a great potential as they allow a focus on developing countries’ own contribution to sustainable development. Linking these processes i.e. through a combined NAMAs and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) would be even more effective.
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