North Coast Forest Conservation Conference. John Nickerson Director of Forestry

Transcription

1 North Coast Forest Conservation Conference John Nickerson Director of Forestry

2 The Reserve: At A Glance Founded as the California Climate Action Registry by state legislation in 2001 Mission: to encourage actions to reduce emissions Forestry (Reforestation, Improved Forest Management, Avoided Conversion) Urban Forestry Livestock Methane Capture Ozone Depleting Substances (US) Landfill Gas Capture Organic Waste Digestion Coal Mine Methane Nitric Acid Production Organic Waste Composting Rice Cultivation Livestock Methane Capture (Mexico) Landfill Gas Capture (Mexico) CARB Approved 2

3 Forest Project Activity by Geography Forest CRTs Registered 3,432,359 Forest CRTs in California 3,115,521 Projects Submitted 147 Projects Registered 6 U.S. States with Projects 18

4 Market History and Trends Market for CRTs has been a mix of voluntary and precompliance, soon to include compliance Prices peaked in mid-2008 (~$12 for CAR), then the stall in the development of a national climate strategy led to downward pressure. CRT prices on the rise in 2010 as CA regulations are moving toward implementation The allowances have a price floor of $10, and the price is expected to continue to rise over time as the cap is tightened Offset demand will increase as allowance supply is constrained

5 California Cap-and and-trade AB32 passed in 2006 Basic CA law on climate Reduce to 1990 baseline by 2020 Final Cap-and-trade regulation adopted by California Air Resources Board in October 20, 2011 Program begins Jan 1, 2013 and runs through 2020 Divided into three compliance periods

6 Offsets for Compliance Compliance obligation can be fulfilled with a mix of allowances and offsets Up to 8% of compliance obligation can be fulfilled with offsets Example: If your emissions are 1 million mtco 2 e, then you can use up to 80,000 offsets for that period Project must be registered with CARB or a CARBapproved registry Climate Action Reserve and American Carbon Registry are accepting compliance projects now (awaiting accreditation from ARB)

7 California Carbon Market Compliance Period First (narrow scope) Second (broad scope) Third Year Allowance Budget Total Offset (mt CO 2 Demand ,800, ,700, ,500, ,400, ,400, ,300, ,300, ,200,000 26,800,000 91,784,000 83,104,000

8 Real Offset Integrity Can be measured to a high degree of accuracy Is based on an activity that has occurred, not one that is projected to occur in the future Additional Occurs outside of any regulatory requirement Would not have occurred but for the incentive provided by a GHG market Verifiable Can be (and has been) independently verified Enforceable Ownership is undisputed and enforcement mechanisms exist to ensure all program rules are followed Permanent Is removed from the atmosphere for a minimum of 100 years

9 Forest Protocol Project Types Reforestation Less than 10% canopy cover for at least 10 years, or following a significant natural disturbance that has removed at least 20% of the trees Avoided Conversion Removing a significant conversion threat for non-forest use and dedicating the forest to continued forest cover Improved Forest Management Activities that increase forest-based sequestration and/or decrease emissions 9

10 Key Components of Forest Project Development Determination of eligibility Forest Owner Inventory of forest carbon stocks Live and dead trees are required Minimum statistical confidence: +/- Confidence Interval Wood products are required Baseline calculation Legal and financial analysis Standardized allowance for avoided emissions Requirements for environmental integrity Third-party verification

11 Forest Project Baselines Credits Are Issued for Exceeding Baseline Carbon Storage Baselines Are Established for 100 Years (100-Year Crediting Period) Baselines must incorporate all legal requirements, including any requirements to: Reforest Buffer watercourses Protect for endangered species Manage under a binding deed restriction

12 Accounting for Reversals Unavoidable Reversals compensated from Buffer Pool administered by Reserve All projects contribute to pool based on risk Risk reduced with qualified conservation easement or deed restriction or public ownership Avoidable Reversals compensated by Forest Owner Surrenders CRTs (project or purchased) equal to CRTs reversed Compensation of reversals must be forest CRTs 12

13 Environmental Integrity Projects required to: Demonstrate long-term sustainability May be met with certification through FSC, SFI, or Tree Farm System Manage for diverse native trees with multiple age classes Even age harvesting limited to 40-acre units No more than 40% of project area can be in age classes less than 20 years Manage for structural elements Requirements for lying and standing dead wood

14 Monitoring and Verification Initial 3 rd party verification includes site visit Interim annual monitoring reports can be verified (not required) Periodic required site verification (every 6-years) Verified stocks above baseline are awarded CRTs CRTs only issued after successful verification (not for unverified annual reports) 14

15 Initial Initial Project Project Inventory Inventory Improved Forest Management Project Activity Project Activity Projects Standing Live Carbon Standing Live Carbon Baseline, provided there are no legal encumbrances to harvest to the FIA average and it makes economic sense to do so Average Inventory of Standing Live Carbon, derived from FIA Average Inventory of Standing Live Carbon, derived from FIA data for assessment area data for assessment area In In this this scenario, scenario, the the project project will will generate generate credits credits for for both both stock stock retention retention and and growth growth

16 Improved Forest Management Projects Baseline Determination Standing Live Carbon Standing Live Carbon Project Activity Average Inventory of Standing Live Carbon, derived from FIA data for assessment area Average Inventory of Standing Live Carbon, derived from FIA data for assessment area Reductions Baseline, incl. any legal requirements Initial Initial Project Project Inventory Inventory In this scenario, the project will generate credits for growth only

17 CEs and Forest Carbon Projects Terms of Encumbrances Easements recorded more than a year prior to project s start date must be considered as part of legal constraints. Carbon Tonnes Legal Interpretation I Legal Interpretation II Years Easements not written specifically to address forest carbon Difficult to translate into terms universally accepted and clear for verification

18 Thank You!

19 Forest Resource Community Challenges Natural resource jobs have fallen from ~3% of all Mendocino County jobs to ~1% of all Mendocino Count jobs Historically, for every job in natural resources, there has been approximately 2.5 jobs in service-related businesses and lumber distribution Not clear what the multipliers are with carbon production, but will lead to more productive forests in long run It is important for forest-dependent communities to keep locally generated revenues within the communities