experts take a deep dive into the critical issues and challenges surrounding greenhouse gas accounting in the land sector. Learn more at https://www.wri.org/events/2019/10/webinar-digging-land-sector-ghg-accounting-under-paris-agreement

1. DIGGING INTO LAND SECTOR GHG ACCOUNTING
UNDER THE PARIS AGREEMENT
Tuesday, October 22nd
CLIMATE TRACKING AND TRANSPARENCY 2019 WEBINAR SERIES

2. CONTENT
• Major issues and challenges for GHG accounting in the
land sector
• Brief history under UNFCCC, Kyoto Protocol
• Land sector and NDCs, accounting under the Paris
Agreement
Climate Tracking and Transparency 2019 Webinar Series

3. • Join audio:
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INTRODUCTION
Attendee Participation
If you experience technical problems during the webinar, please submit
questions in the Q&A section or to Cynthia Elliott at: CElliott@wri.org
Climate Tracking and Transparency 2019 Webinar Series

4. INTRODUCTION
Tracking and Strengthening Climate Action (TASCA)
• TASCA provides governments with tools and resources to track
the implementation and effects of their NDCs, and the underlying
policies that support them, and strengthen climate action.
• The project works in five countries to strengthen systems and
capacities to track progress toward tackling climate change:
Colombia, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, and South Africa.
• In addition to work in the project countries, TASCA advances
global research and organizes convenings to advance critical
issues related to transparency and ambition.
Climate Tracking and Transparency 2019 Webinar Series

5. • Launched in May 2010 at the Petersberg Climate
Dialogue by South Africa, Republic of Korea and
Germany
• Aim: promoting ambitious climate action through
practical exchange on enhanced transparency and,
by this, contributing to achieving the global
temperature goal
• Formats: policy dialogue events, capacity building
and peer-exchange in five regional and language
groups, knowledge dissemination
www.transparency-partnership.net / Twitter @TrackingClimate
INTRODUCTION
Partnership on Transparency in the Paris Agreement
Climate Tracking and Transparency 2019 Webinar Series

6. Today’s Panelists (in the order of presentation):
• Nancy Harris, Research Manager, Global Forest Watch/WRI
• Giacomo Grassi, Senior Scientist, Joint Research Centre, European
Commission
• Jason Funk, Principal & Founder, Land Use & Climate Knowledge
Initiative
• Peter Iversen, Programme Officer/Team Lead (land Use), UNFCCC
INTRODUCTION
Climate Tracking and Transparency 2019 Webinar Series

7. Joint Research Centre
The European Commission’s
science and knowledge service
MAJOR ACCOUNTING ISSUES AND
CHALLENGESWITHTHE LAND SECTOR
GIACOMO GRASSI ET AL.
WEBINAR AT WRI, 22TH OCTOBER 2019

8. Modified from : Creating common purpose: the
integration of science and policy in Canada’s
Public Service, Canadian Centre for
Management Development, 2002
Can you tell me where I am?We’re lost.
And you must be a policymaker.
I gave you an accurate answer, but you
don’t understand …
You are at Latitude 50 North and Longitude 4 East, at
100 m above sea level.
You must be a scientist. I asked you a simple
question, you gave me too complex information
and I’m still lost.

9. The Global Carbon Budget
(average 2007-2016 from Global Carbon Project 2017)
46%
Atmosphere
Forests
Oceans
30%
24%
88%
12%
+
Fossil fuel emissions
Land use change
Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF)
Energy,
transport,
etc.
The forest sink is
complex to measure
and only partly
anthropogenic

10. Till recently the LULUCF sector has been often seen as a secondary mitigation
option by climate policy
LULUCF other GHG sectors

11. Fossil fuels
Forests
Bioenergy with carbon
capture and storage
Balance
removals
emissions
BillionstonnesCO2/year
The Paris Agreement requires forest mitigation
• LULUCF expected to provide 25% of countries’ planned global emission reductions by 2030
• Countries asked reduce deforestation and conserve/enhance sinks
Forests are the most important CO2
sink that humans can manage
• <2oC requires a balance between GHG
anthropogenic emissions and removals
(IPCC
SR1.5)

12. Science suggests large potential for land mitigation
Based on Griscom
et al. 2017
 Potential of 750 PgCO2 in
«several decades» by restoring
1600 Mha of forests
SCIENCE

13. What is still missing ?

14. ≈ 4-5 GtCO2/y gap
WHYsuch big GAP?
1. Can we trust country land GHG estimates?
How to they compare globally with scientific estimates ?

15. This sink in
anthropogenic
No, that’s natural
Different approaches to what is “anthropogenic forest sink”
GHG inventories include more “managed” area and the impact of “environmental change”
such as CO2 fertilization, etc. (Grassi et al. 2018)
For tracking countries’ progress toward the Paris’
targets, this difference needs to be reconciled.

16. The Paris Agreement calls for economy-wide climate targets
 fungibility across sectors requires comparability.
The “accounting” of emissions toward the climate target should reflect real deviations
from past activities  challenging for forests, due to the impact of age-related dynamics.
2. Ensuring a credible accounting of forest mitigation actions
Credits
Debits
CO2Sink
Dashed black line = Projected FRL
Red-green dashed line = Actual performance
Time
Projected Forest
Reference Level:

17. 3. Identify barriers, synergies and trade-offs to address multiple
challenges.
IPCC SR CCL:
Many low and medium
cost effective strategies
based on sustainable land
management available to
address climate change
mitigation and adaptation,
land degradation, and
food
Insecurity

18. Conclusions
Science has no doubts: we can’t achieve the Paris goals without land mitigation.
Some step still needed:
1. More confidence in country GHG estimates (and comparability with IPCC)
2. Ensuring a credible accounting of forest mitigation actions.
3. Identify synergies and trade-offs of land mitigation feasibility, not only potential.
The land sector has the opportunity and the responsibility to deliver.
Now, it’s time for action

19. Thank you!

20. A BRIEF HISTORY OF
GREENHOUSE GAS
ACCOUNTING FOR THE
LAND SECTOR: HOW DID
WE GET HERE?
Jason Funk
Principal & Founder
Land Use & Climate Knowledge Initiative

21. Policy in force: KP
commitment
period 1
The
Hague
Policy agreement: The
Framework Convention
1990 1992 1997 2005
Reference point:
1990 emissions
Policy agreement: The
Kyoto Protocol
IPCC guidance: 1996
Good Practice Guidance
2001
Accounting rules
for LULUCF:
Marrakech Accords
2008
First mentions of
avoided
deforestation
mechanism (REDD+)
Bali
Action
Plan
IPCC guidance: 2006
Guidelines
IPCC guidance: 2003 GPG
for LULUCF

22. Copenhagen
1990 2008 2013 2020
Policy agreement:
Durban (CP2)
Reference
point: 1990
emissions
Policy agreement: The
Paris Agreement
Policy in force: KP
commitment period 1
Policy in force: KP commitment period 2
2015
Cancun Safeguards
(REDD+)
Policy in force:
Paris Agreement
Article 5.2 of Paris
Agreement
Warsaw Framework
for REDD+
IPCC guidance: 2013 KP
and Wetlands
supplements
IPCC guidance: 2019
Refinement
2011

23. Thank you!
Jason Funk
Lucki.funk@gmail.com

24. Land sector accounting and reporting under
the Paris Agreement
Peter Iversen, UNFCCC

25. Introduction
Content and the use of terms
• Land sector is not defined in the Paris Agreement or in any of the subsequent decisions Here I refer to Agriculture and
Land use, land –use change and forestry (LULUCF). This is also how countries will be reporting in their greenhouse
gas (GHG) inventories under the Paris Agreement.
• Since agriculture historically has been treated like any other sector such as the energy sector, the focus will be on
LULUCF.

26. Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)
• NDCs are the foundation of the Paris Agreement. This is how the long-term temperature
goals set out in art. 2 (stay below 2 degrees aiming for 1.5 degrees) should be achieved.
• More than 75 percent of all NDCs contain reference to land use. Some NDCs with a LULUCF
component implicitly included as part of an economy-wide emission reduction target and
some with a specific sector target such as X ha of forest by 2030 or increase in forest carbon
stocks, some mention implementation of REDD+ etc..
• NDCs that are submitted are diverse in nature, but in accordance with the Paris Agreement,
all Parties will move over time towards economy-wide emission reduction targets.
• With such diversity transparency becomes critical for assessing progress including for
providing input to the Global Stocktake but also to build trust and confidence and promote
effective implementation of mitigation efforts.

27. Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)
• Principles
a) Parties are requested to account for their NDCs in a way that promotes environmental integrity, transparency,
accuracy, completeness, comparability and consistency, and ensures the avoidance of double counting.
• But accounting is essentially nationally determined and due to the bottom-up approach of NDCs and the largely non-
prescriptive nature of rules for accounting, countries can use different definitions, accounting approaches and
methodologies for the determination of the contribution of LULUCF to their NDCs.
• Parties are requested to communicate by 2020 a new NDC (for NDCs with a timeframe to 2025) or an updated NDC (for
NDCs with a timeframe to 2030) and to do so every five years thereafter.

28. Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF)
• In Paris, the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) was established to build mutual
trust and confidence and to promote effective implementation, and enhanced transparency
framework for action and support
• In Katowice (COP24) Parties agreed on the modalities, procedures and guidelines
(MPGs) for the transparency framework for action and support
• This include overarching principles highlight the importance of improving over time, and
include flexibility provisions for Parties that need it in the light of their capacities.
• Parties also agreed the content of the biennial transparency report (BTR), that contain a:
a) National inventory report with the GHG inventory
b) Information necessary to track progress in implementing and achieving NDC under art. 4

29. Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF)
• For the national inventory report of anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases
Parties agreed to:
a) use the 2006 IPCC Guidelines and the 100-year time-horizon global warming potential values from the IPCC Fifth
Assessment Report
b) report the following sectors: energy, industrial processes and product use, agriculture, LULUCF and waste,
according to the IPCC guidelines
c) in the case of a Party addressing the emissions and subsequent removals from natural disturbances on managed
lands in its national GHG inventory, that Party shall report information on the approach taken, and how it is
consistent with IPCC guidance, as appropriate, and shall indicate if the estimates are indicated in national totals.
d) in the case of a Party using an approach to reporting emissions and removals from harvested wood products in
accordance with IPCC guidance other than the production approach, that Party shall also provide supplementary
information on emissions and removals from harvested wood products estimated using the production approach.

30. Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF), accounting
information
• Each country shall provide a description of its NDC under Article 4, against which
progress will be tracked.
• This includes scope and coverage, including, as relevant, sectors, categories, activities,
sources and sinks, pools and gases;
• Countries shall identify indicator(s) that it has selected to track progress and provide
information for each selected indicator.
• Strive to include all categories of anthropogenic emissions and removals in their NDC,
and, once a source, sink or activity is included, continue to include it.

31. Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF), accounting
information specific for LULUCF
• Provide a description of each methodology and/or accounting approach used, including:
• Where applicable to its NDC, any sector-, category- or activity-specific assumptions, methodologies and approaches
consistent with IPCC guidance, taking into account any relevant decision under the Convention, including as applicable:
(i) The approach used to address emissions and subsequent removals from natural disturbances on
managed lands;
(ii) The approach used to account for emissions and removals from harvested wood products;
(iii) The approach used to address the effects of age-class structure in forests.

32. On-going work
• COP25
a) make Article 6 of the Paris Agreement operational
• COP26
a) develop common reporting tables for the electronic reporting;
b) develop outlines of the biennial transparency report, national inventory document and
technical expert review report.

33. Concluding remarks
• The use of a biennial transparency report by all Parties, common reporting tables, 2006 IPCC Guidelines with the six
land-use categories and subcategories and the use of the same global warming potential will greatly improve
transparency and comparability between Parties and facilitate the aggregation of estimates.
• The diversity of NDCs will be a challenge for the technical expert review teams and the aggregation of results, e.g. for the
global stocktake, could also be challenging.
• While countries can have good reasons for using activity-based accounting (REDD+ is activity-based but in some cases
countries have aligned it with the IPCC land use categories), there could potentially be some benefits if countries decide
to use accounting approaches following the same land-based approach they use when compiling their GHG inventory for
the BTR.

34. Any Questions?
Climate Tracking and Transparency 2019 Webinar Series

35. THANK YOU!
CLIMATE TRACKING AND TRANSPARENCY 2019 WEBINAR SERIES
This project is part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI). The German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation
and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) supports this initiative on the basis of a decision adopted by the German Bundestag.
For more on the webinar series, contact: Beth Elliott, WRI (beth.elliott@wri.org)

36. I weight
12o kg
I weight
8o kg
I will slim
10 kg
I will slim
20 kg
Max weight
allowed is 150 kg
you have to slim!
170 kg .. not enough!
GHG
inventories
Countries’
climate
pledges

37. 0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030
EUforestincrementandharvest,Mm3/yr
= increment (growth)
= harvest
New science-based approach to Forest Reference Levels (FRL) in the EU
New policies to increase harvest
 if included in the FRL, a
human-induced decrease in the
sink would not be accounted
EU FRL: continuation of
historical forest management
combined to age-related
dynamics  accounting will
reflect the true impact of
deviations from past forest
activities, like other sectors
C SINK
(biomass)