Forests in European and Finnish Climate Policy

Transcription

1 IFS Mid-career Training, Foreign Module Wednesday, June , Metla House Forests in European and Finnish Climate Policy Prof. Dr. Jari Parviainen Finnish Forest Research Institute (Metla), Joensuu

2 The role of forests and the forest-based sector in meeting the EU's climate commitments Content: 1. Forest resources in Europe and their use 2. EU s forest policies and climate commitments 3. Impact and Adaptation 4. Mitigation 5. Actions

3 1. Forest resources and their use in Europe Long term data sources: MCPFE- comprehensive sustainability reports with ecological, economic and social aspects 5th MCPFE in Warsaw, November 2007 State of Finland's Forests 2007

4 Specific characteristics of European forests 1. Forests are altered 2. Forests are fragmented 3. Specific ownership structure private, family ownership dominates These three factors influence on the biodiversity with clear difference in compare to other continents Private, family forest with agricultural areas in Finland Wood fellings in Forested landscape in Central-Europe

5 The term sustainable was first related to sustainable yield of forest resources and probably first mentioned by the German Hans Carl von Carlowitz in 1713 Uncontrolled use and overexploitation of forest in Europe led to the establishment of organized forestry systems in 1700

6 FOREST COVER in Europe is 31%, and in Finland 76 % Finland

7 Most forests (87 %) in Europe are classified as semi-natural State of Europe s Forests 2007 Unveröffentlicht

8 Greece Netherlands Ireland United Kingdom Denmark Germany Sweden Belgium France Finland Italy Austria Spain Portugal Non-industrial, private forest ownership in Europe (%) In EU-27 60% privately owned, 40 % publicly owned

9 Wood resources in Europe 2007 Growing stock volume in forests of EU- 27 (MCPFE 2007)

10 Forest utilization rate in Europe is about 50% Annual fellings as percentage of the net annual increment for European countries (MCPFE 2007)

11 Annual increment and fellings of wood resources in Europe for Data for : Kuusela, K Forest Resources in Europe European Forest Institute. Research Report 1,154 p. Data for : MCPFE State of Europe s Forests 2007, 247 p. Gross annual increment estimated. Data for 2010 estimated.

12 8,7 % of forest area is protected for biodiversity in Europe, in addition 11 % for landscape protection, in Total 20 % Share of the MCPFE Classes of the total forest and other wooded land area protected for biodiversity by countries in MCPFE region in 2005 Subtotal (1000ha) MCPFE Class 1.1 = no intervention MCPFE Class 1.2 = minimal intervention MCPFE Class 1.3 = active management

13 Conclusion: The role of forest growth in mitigation to climate change is really important also in European scale For several decades now, European forests have been functioning as carbon sinks because their annual growth has exceeded fellings, thus helping to slow the build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Forests cover 31% of Europe's land area and it is estimated that they sequester approx. 7-10% of Europe's annual carbon dioxide emissions[1]. [1] Nabuurs, G.J. et al Temporal evolution of the European Forest sector carbon sink Global Change Biology 9.

14 2. Forest and forest related policies in EU/Europe The Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe (MCPFE) is the main pan- European political initiative. New name since 2010 FOREST EUROPE It was initiated in 1990 with the first ministerial conference in Strasbourg and represents a voluntary forest policy process based on a series of ministerial conferences with the central objective of establishing sustainable forest management (SFM). The MCPFE non-legally binding commitments involve 46 European signatory states in and outside the European Union.

15 Modern concept for sustainable forest management based on UNCED in RIO 1992 MCPFE = Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe since 1990, 46 countries Strasbourg 1990 Helsinki 1993 Lisbon 1998 Vienna 2003 Warsaw 2007 Oslo

16 Forest Europe process A core issue of the Forest Europe (MCPFE) process has been the advancement of National Forest Programmes (NFPs), which were originally developed in the IPF/IFF/UNFF process. To date NFPs are explicitly recognised as an important planning tool for national policy making by the EU, UNFF and the World Bank During the Ministerial Conferences of (Helsinki - Lisbon) Pan-European Criteria and Indicators (C&I) for sustainable forest management were introduced. The C&I are a tool to monitor changes in SFM and serve as a basis for international reporting and for the development of national indicators For the last conference, the MCPFE Report on "State of Forests and Sustainable Forest Management in Europe 2007" was prepared together with the UNECE and FAO. The data collected for this report uses the improved set of MCPFE Criteria & Indicators (C&I).

17 Forest and forest related policies in EU the Treaties establishing the European Union do not explicitly provide for a common EU forest policy However, there has been a long history of Community actions related to the support of forest policy and protection activities The first significant attempts towards establishing a more coordinated and coherent European forest policy were made in the mid-1990s during the formulation of a legislative proposal for EU forestry strategy The main instruments today are the EU Forest Strategy (1998) and the EU Forest Action Plan (2006). Standing Forestry Committee (SFC) has been created to handle jointly the forest issues Among the most relevant forest related policies on EU level are the Common Agricultural Policy(CAP), water policy (Water Framework Directive (WFD)

18 Forest and forest related policies in EU/Europe Among the most relevant forest related policies on EU level are the Common Agricultural Policy(CAP), water policy (Water Framework Directive, WFD) and policy on nature protection, including Natura Strong links to forests are also available with the policies of renewable energies (Renewable Energy Directive) and with the EU climate policy, emissions and removals as LULUCF (land use, land use change and forestry) reporting Forest monitoring has been identified as a crucial cross-cutting element for various policies on forest issues. There is currently a wide discussion on the various options for forest policy in order to strentghen forest governance, policy coherence and synergies within and between forest and forest related policies in EU. Green Paper initiative in the discussion, until July 2010

19 EU s climate commitments EU's so-called 20/20/20 targets, the climate and energy package includes several new legislative decisions (17 December 2008): amendments the EU emissions trading directive (applies to emissions trading for the period) burden-sharing to reduce the emissions of sectors outside of the emissions trading system (including transport, agriculture, waste treatment, construction) renewable energies directive with a view to increasing use of renewable energies (RES directive) directive on carbon capture and storage (CCS directive) communication on sustainable CO2 technologies guidelines on new State aid for environmental protection regulation on reducing carbon emissions from cars tyre-pressure monitoring systems and tyre energy efficiency

20 EU s climate commitments EU targets in addition to those set under the Kyoto Protocol by 2020: greenhouse gas emissions should be reduced by 20% compared to 1990 levels the share of renewable energies should be increased to 20% of the EU's final energy consumption; energy efficiency should be increased by 20%; the share of biofuels should be increased to 10% of transport fuels

21 EU s climate commitments Another objective of the EU is to put in place a new international agreement for the period after 2012 which would commit all countries to making emissions cuts. At the same time, the EU is promoting a new target for developed countries to reduce greenhouse emissions by 30% by 2020 compared to 1990 levels. If an international agreement is reached the EU will sign up to it.

22 EU RES Directive (Renewable energies) Requirements related to forests: 1. Greenhouse gas emissions savings Minimum requirement for GHG saving in relation to fossil fuels at least 35%,and from %. 2. Biofuels/bioliquids not from raw material from land with high biodiversity value 3. Biofuels/bioliquids not from raw material from land with high carbon stock Economic operators have to show that environmental criteria have been fulfilled Verification issues not yet specified

23 EU RES Directive and CEN standards CEN aims to develop voluntary technical specifications for various products and services CEN/TC 383 standards: sustainably produced biomass for energy applications will be finalized 2011 The development work of the CEN standard is based on four working groups: Terminology and other cross-cutting issues Greenhouse Gas (GHG) calculation Biodiversity and environmental aspects Conformity assessment (Chain of Custody and Auditing) International work on ISO standard sustainable criteria for bioenergy has been initiated 2010, lasting until Four working groups: Cross cutting issues, Greenhouse gases, Environmental, economic and social issue and Indirect effects

24 3. Impact and Adaptation

25 The goal of EU climate policy is to curtail global warming so that the average increase in global temperature does not exceed 20th century level by more than 2 C. Annual temperature, Sea Level, Snow cover Evidence of temperature increase

26 Extreme weather phenomena such as drought, forest fires, storms or snow damage: frequency increased Scots pine

27 3. The impact of climate change on forests (Regional differences) Regional differences must be recognized: in the Mediterranean region it is likely that dry, hot periods will increase, resulting in a shortage of fresh water and an increased risk of forest fires and desertification; in central Europe the growing season will become longer; forest growth may increase; the proportion of broadleaved trees is likely to grow; rainfall amounts may decline and drought occur; climatic extremes, notably storm damage, will become more prevalent; in the northern coniferous zone the growing season is likely to lengthen; forest growth may increase; wind damages will become more prevalent; and in the temperate zone insect pests are expected to spread northwards, possible causing damage on a massive scale. climatic extremes, fire, storm in the south, insect pest in the north

28 3. Adaptation: The role of forest management in adapting to climate change Good forest management is the main way of improving the ability of forests to adapt to climate change (tree species, regeneration, native tree species, mixed forests, conversion, restoration, biodiversity, alien species, damaging plant pests) Forest management contingency plans for the prevention of forest damage caused by extreme phenomena Areas that are particularly at risk from such extreme weather conditions must be mapped out in advance. Awareness of the importance of forest management in adapting to climate change must be increased among members of the public, forest owners and those responsible for forest management.

29 Carbon sequestration effectiveness: The protected forests are in their end stage carbon storages. The increase of protected areas reduce the area, which could act as a carbon pump by sequesration of carbon from the air into the forest and forest products The carbon flow from the air into the forests can constantly only be quaranteed by forest management and use of wood Protected Protected forests as a carbon storage Managed Managed forests as a carbon pump

30 4. Mitigation: The role of forests in curbing the climate change INTERLINKAGES: FOREST AND CLIMATE Increasing forest area ++ Carbon storage ++ Substitution effects ++ Source: IPCC 2007

31 Use of wood for construction (life-cycle, standards) Wood is a carbon storage, and its use means huge carbon emission savings in construction

32 Conclusion: Use of wood for construction and other wood products Member State governments should incorporate "green construction" timber materials into timber supply policy and apply forest certification requirements that are compatible with the international concept of sustainability The more widespread construction of wooden buildings worldwide and the use of wood in construction are limited by the lack of uniform standards, rules and certification criteria. The construction sector should have at its disposal analyses of the life-cycle and greenhouse gas emissions of products, based on scientific calculations, so that it could compare various materials on an impartial basis.

33 Wood-based energy (heating, electricity, biofuels) Considerably increase of renewable bioenergy (EU RED Directive) is expected Bioenergy from wooden biomass - resources, availability, harvesting, transportation and logistics Manual felling and piling of small-sized stems Felling frame Pile of small-sized delimbed or undelimbed trees near forest road Forest haulage of small-sized trees Chipping Transportation to heating plant Heating plant Accumulating feller-buncher

34 Share of wood-based energy in Europe In 2006 the EU-25 produced energy from renewable energy resources amounting to 110 Mtoe, which is about 14% of total energy use. The major part (65%) of renewable energy was produced from biomass, mainly (60%) forest energy

35 Conclusions: Wood-based energy Forest biomass is the most important immediately accessible renewable bioenergy resource in Europe End-use support, i.e. feed-in tariffs for the production of "green energy", is an important instrument for developing various kinds of bioenergy strategies at both local and regional level The forest biomass harvesting potential of Europe's forests is million cubic metres a year, taking into consideration that harvesting does not pose a threat to the environment, forest biodiversity and conservation areas. At present, the amount of forest biomass harvested is estimated to be some 10 15% of the harvesting potential.

36 5. Proposed actions/final conclusions The use of sustainably produced wood should be promoted in different ways and for different purposes. Forest resources in Europe allow substantial increase of the use of wood Rules and standards for sustainably produced forest biomass (EU RES Directive) and for Green Public Procurement (GPP) are important and should be linked to the Europe-wide MCPFE sustainability criteria in order to avoid unnecessary work and duplication Amendments (inclusion Harvested Wood Products and REDD instrument in carbon balance calculations) for greenhouse gas reporting in the post-kyoto period, in Copenhagen 2009 are necessary Support of research, the mapping of risk areas susceptible to the effects of climate change and the development of systems for monitoring the condition of forests and to ensure funding for these

37 Wooden Metla House in Joensuu Thank you for your attention