Author Archives: reddforest

Carbon Markets for 2012?

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Global carbon traded volume in 2011 were about 8 billion tCO2 up 19% compared to 2010, but the traded values were about euro 96 billions up only 4%. This was because carbon price was cheap; economic crisis in EU forced EU to issue more allowances (right to emit carbon) to its member states, leading to more supply but less demand. Carbon price traded yesterday was only about $3.5 per tCO2 down from $15 few months ago.

Japan, Canada, Russia decided not join second commitment of the Kyoto Protocol (2013-2020). This decision made carbon market in Japan become smaller and smaller.
Carbon markets have probably moved to New Zealand and Australia. However, because the two countries have less population, the size of the markets is still relatively small.

Implications for REDD+ projects:
REDD+ is somehow still attractive to EU buyers due probably to less investment costs, high carbon emission reduction potentials, and of course high risk, and because EU is still part of the Kyoto. Investors expect carbon price to go up about $10-12 for Kyoto’s second period starting from 2013-2020, but it is still uncertain.

Implications for REDD+ in Cambodia
REDD+’s Bilateral partnership: In addition to the already shrinking market, countries that decided to not ratify the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol will have difficulties in talking to UNFCCC parties because they are no longer a member of the Kyoto. This would mean that their proposed REDD+ guidelines or whatever guidelines under the bilateral partnership program would not be even listened to. Without approval, no one would buy REDD+ credits under any bilateral partnership scheme with non-Kyoto parties. Therefore, I think Cambodia needs to clarify the bilateral partnership program with the relevant countries.
EU Partners: Although EU markets are still uncerntain, 2nd commitment period will see increase in carbon price because EU has set a tight reduction target (20% by 2020, 50% by 2050). I think Cambodia should have some partners from EU because Cambodian government is committed to managing its forests under the REDD+ scheme
California (CA) Carbon Trading: CA adopted emission trading scheme in October 2011 and some trading begins this year. It also has increasing carbon markets, but they seemed to prefer credits from South America.
Australia Carbon Tax: from July 2012, Australia will impose a carbon tax of A$23/tCO2. So, carbon market there would increase as emitters have to offset their emissions. I think Cambodia may also want to find some carbon partners from Australia.

Well, my analysis is not always right.

Thanks for reading!

Interdisciplinary Climate Change Research Symposium 2012

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DISCCRS VII Interdisciplinary Climate Change Research Symposium

Dates: October 13-20, 2012
Location: La Foret Conference and Retreat Center
Colorado Springs, CO

Application Deadline: February 29, 2012
Participation limited to 30 early-career Ph.D. scholars
Airfare and on-site expenses are supported through grants from NSF and NASA
http://disccrs.org

Eligibility: Ph.D. requirements completed between August 1, 2009 – February 29, 2012 in any natural or social science field relevant to the study of climate change, its impacts, or its societal implications. U.S. citizens and residents have preference though limited funds are available for non-U.S. participation.
See http://disccrs.org/files/DISCCRS_VI_Symposium_Scholars.pdf for information on the previous symposium scholars, and http://disccrs.org/files/DISCCRS_VI_Symposium_Report.pdf for information on the symposium experience.

Since 2003, DISCCRS has hosted symposia for early-career researchers to catalyze formation of interdisciplinary collegial networks, while fostering skills to better prepare graduates to conduct collaborative research and respond to the myriad challenges posed by climate change and its impacts. Participants will share their research; engage in discussions with peers, mentors, and funding agency representatives; and participate in communication and team training. Thirty early-career scholars will be selected through a review process with the expectation that invitees will become leaders in their chosen fields. Airfare and on-site expenses are supported through grants from NSF and NASA.

Symposium Application Instructions
http://disccrs.org/application_instructions

DISCCRS Resources
Webpage http://disccrs.org: The DISCCRS webpage includes information about symposia, a Ph.D. dissertation registry, news and links to other climate research sites, DISCCRS symposium and program reports and publications from the symposia, information.

Online Ph.D. Dissertation Registry http://disccrs.org/register: Join over 2500 climate change researchers by registering your Ph.D. dissertation and adding your abstract to our fully searchable database. Or browse the registry to identify other climate change researchers.

Career Resources http://disccrs.org/career: In addition to the Dissertation Registry, the DISCCRS website includes a wealth of valuable resources for finding a job, developing your professional skills, locating funding opportunities, crafting grant proposals and more.

Electronic Newsletter: With weekly climate-change job listings, news stories, funding opportunities and more, our weekly e-newsletter is automatically provided to anyone who registers their Ph.D. You can also subscribe at: http://disccrs.org/subscribe

DISCCRS Sponsors
AAG, AERE, AGU, AMS, ASLO, ESA, ESS-ISA, STEP-APSA, TOS, USSEE

DISCCRS Funding
U.S. National Science Foundation Collaborative Grants: SES-0931402 to the University of Oregon and SES-0932916 to Whitman College
National Aeronautics and Space Administration Grant NNX10AJ53G to Whitman College

Contact: info@disccrs.org
Organizers: Ronald B. Mitchell (University of Oregon) and C. Susan Weiler (Whitman College)

Forestry Summer School in Brazil

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Practices, power, and knowledge in participatory forest management
(June 23-30, 2012, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

 With Prof. dr. Arun Agrawal, University of Michigan, USA as the anchor teacher

Summer School organised by, The Forest and Nature Conservation Policy Group (FNP), Wageningen University, the Netherlands & Program for Law and Environment – Getulio Vargas Foundation (PDMA/FGV), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Following the success of the FNP (WASS) summer school held in 2011 (July 11-15) at WUR, a sequel for this is being organised in 2012 (June 23-30)  in Rio de Janeiro by Forest and Nature Conservation Policy (FNP) group with its partners from Brazil- the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) situated in Rio de Janeiro.

The summer school in 2012, will focus on the theme “Practices, power, and knowledge in participatory forest management”, with prof. dr. Arun Agrawal (University of Michigan, USA) as its anchor teacher. The teaching team for this summer school includes, Prof. dr. Bas Arts, Dr. Virgílio Gibbon, Prof. dr. Peter May, Dr. SailajaNandigama, Dr. Marcelo R Lennertz, Dr. Paulo de Meira Lins,  Dr. Esther Turnhout, and Dr. Sven Wunder representing various international Universities and institutions across the Global North and South.

This summer school is organised in collaboration with the Graduate School of International Development Studies, Roskilde University and Centre for Forests, Landscape and Planning, University of Copenhagen; the FNP partners from the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (CPDA/UFRRJ); the International Finance Corporation(the World Bank Group); and the International Centre for Forest Research (CIFOR).

This summer school is being organised in the immediate aftermath of the Political Ecology course (June 4-8, 2012), offered by the University of Copenhagen; the ISEE2012 Conference (June 16-19) organised by ISEE/UN-DESA (a UNCSD learning centre); and the Rio+20 Summit, June 20-22 (UNCSD); to promote and facilitate dialogue and intellectual interaction among academic researchers and practitioners sharing common interests in Forest and Nature Conservation.

The FNP& FGV summer school call for participants and the application form are attached to this email.

We aim to bring in a maximum of 50 talented and highly motivated PhD fellows, Post-Doc researchers, and practitioners from across the world as participants for this summer school.

A limited number of fellowships/travel grants are available for FNP& FGV summer school participants registered in Universities/Institutes of developing countries.

Preparatory time: 2 weeks of self-reading and 1 week of attending lectures and interactive sessions.

 Course contribution: 3 ECTS

 Time schedule:  23rd June 2012 to 30th June 2012

Registration

Registration is possible electronically. Please contact the course coordinator, Dr. Sailaja Nandigama (sailaja.nandigama@wur.nl) for applications forms or visit:
http://www.fnp.wur.nl/UK/Events/Summerschool+2012/

 The deadline for sending your filled application is  17th February 2012.

 For more details on the application process, fees and content of the summer school contact the course coordinator Dr. Sailaja Nandigama (sailaja.nandigama@wur.nl), Forest and Nature Conservation Policy (FNP) group, Wageningen University.

Summer School 2012 Nominations

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The UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) is holding its eighth annual Energy Summer School from 17th June – 22nd June 2011 at the University of Warwick in the English Midlands. There will be 100 places available for UK and international students.

The School has been specifically designed to give second year PhD students an understanding of energy systems as a whole and of pathways to low-carbon and resilient energy systems.  This directly relates to international climate change issues and policies as students will become engaged
In mock United Nations style negotiations throughout the week in order to achieve a reduction in carbon emissions through the use of energy systems.

We welcome applications from those engaged in energy-related research including technical, physical, social, economic, environmental and business aspects of energy and energy systems.

We would like to invite you to nominate students to attend. There is no charge for registered research students to attend the School; UKERC will provide accommodation and all meals and materials for activities. The School is conducted in English, and as it is highly interactive a good standard of comprehension and spoken English is essential.
Agenda

During the week-long course, which runs in parallel to UKERC’s Annual Assembly, students will:
•  Examine the evolving challenges, and the feasibility of, the transition to a low-carbon, resilient and affordable energy system out till 2030;
•  Understand the global commercial, political, innovation and technological challenges in the transition to a low-carbon system;
•  Be involved in high level debate on energy technologies and research priorities in a number of key research areas, from demand reduction to future sources of energy;
•  Be presented with a number of contrasting international perspectives on energy;
•  Have the opportunity to network with key academic, and energy research contacts;
•  Research, develop, negotiate and agree a collective vision for a low-carbon energy system and present the work to the UK Energy Research Centre
•  Develop and practice professional skills in communication and engagement.

The course is professionally facilitated to provide continual support for participants, and includes a number of networking opportunities as well as social events.

Successful applicants will be notified by e-mail from 22nd March 2012 and both nominator and nominee will at that time be asked to formally accept the place. Should the delegate subsequently withdraw and a suitable replacement not be found, the nominator will be required to pay for the cost of the unused place. The course is normally over-subscribed, and UKERC will select delegates by giving preference to those in the second year of a PhD, to provide an appropriate mix of specialist disciplines, and a balance of UK and non-UK based students.
Nominations
Nominations are now open until 1700hrs (5pm) GMT Thursday, 8th March 2011. For convenience we ask that the student completes the nomination form, but they will need to include your details as confirmation of endorsement.

The nomination form can be accessed from our website or by clicking on the link below. http://www.regonline.co.uk/Register/Checkin.aspx?EventID=1037477

Information
If you have further questions, please call us on +44 (0)207 594 1574 or email Ilaria Longo (Ilaria.longo@ukerc.ac.uk )
Further information is available from the UK Energy Research Centre website at www.ukerc.ac.uk

Payments for Ecosystem Services – Legal and Institutional Readiness

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Payments for Ecosystem Services – Legal and Institutional Readiness

Ecosystems provide services that sustain life – climate regulation, water and nutrient cycling, habitat provision, and so much more. Replicating even a fraction of the services that are freely provided by well-functioning ecosystems would cost billions of dollars, if it could be done at all. Payments for ecosystem services (PES) represent one approach to enabling investments into preserving and enhancing ecosystems and associated ecosystem services.

In practice, the success of PES depends in large part on the legal and institutional framework in a particular place. As yet, however, there are few resources for understanding legal and institutional “readiness” for PES. A new booklet from the Katoomba Group, created with funding from UNDP South Africa, attempts to address this gap by outlining a framework for assessing PES legal and institutional readiness in a particular jurisdiction. It identifies threshold conditions for PES, essential aspects to be developed in parallel with PES transactions, and legal and institutional elements that can facilitate greater efficacy and efficiency.

In practice, what is feasible or attractive in terms of concrete steps towards an enabling legal and institutional framework for PES will depend upon numerous political, economic, and other factors. Nevertheless, we hope that this framework provides a useful tool in identifying gaps and options in the particular context.

Download full publication at New Forest Trends Publication

Payments for Ecosystem Services Contract Clauses

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New Online Resource – Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) Contract Clauses Library

As private and public payments for ecosystem services (PES) transactions gain wider acceptance as a tool for addressing ecosystem degradation and loss, guidance around negotiating and drafting PES agreements becomes increasingly important. In general, drafting a contract consists of adapting and modifying an existing contract, rather than beginning from scratch. Few examples exist, however, of payments for ecosystem services (PES) contracts. The lack of precedents in contracting for PES makes negotiating and drafting these agreements much more costly and time-consuming. It is also likely to put sellers, who may have little commercial experience and limited resources, at a disadvantage relative to commercially-savvy PES buyers or brokers.

 

With the support of UNDP South Africa, the Katoomba Group’s Legal Initiative, which is part of Forest Trends, has put together an online Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) Contract Clauses Library to help address this gap. This web-based resource provides background information about PES contracting and the structure of a PES agreement, as well as basic information about 20 different types of clauses that are likely to be used in these contracts, and 33 example clauses. We hope that this resource will continue to grow and will help PES participants to negotiate and draft effective and equitable PES agreements.

Download full publication here

REDD+ Conference at Oxford 2011

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“Beyond carbon: ensuring justice and equity in REDD+ across levels of governance”

When & where: 23-24 March 2012, St. Anne’s College, Oxford, UK.

Call for Papers

Abstracts are invited for the following four themes:

*   Ecological dimensions of justice and equity in REDD+
*   Socio-political dimensions of justice and equity in REDD+
*   Role of Indigenous peoples and local communities in REDD+
*   How can REDD+ deliver more than carbon benefits?

Please submit an abstract of up to 400 words for oral presentations, specifying one of the themes above, at htttp://www.eci.ox.ac.uk/redd/index.php

The deadline is noon GMT, 4 January 2012. Decisions will be sent by 9 January 2012. Full papers should be uploaded by 19 March 2012. Revised papers submitted to h.schroeder@uea.ac.uk by 15 April 2012 will be considered for submission to a special issue in a high-impact academic journal.

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) has rapidly become a key pillar of international cooperation on climate change. Since its inception in 2005, REDD+ has grown in scope from being a cheap mitigation option and opportunity to address the 15-20% of global GHG emissions attributed to deforestation into a wider set of activities that reach beyond the carbon dimension of REDD+. They promote forest carbon stocks, sustainable management of forests and forest conservation as well as deliver co-benefits such as biodiversity conservation and poverty alleviation. A host of state and non-state actors at all levels of governance have entered this emerging policy field. This conference takes stock of these developments to date. It addresses them from both natural and social science perspectives and discusses the role of justice and equity in current debates on REDD+. Its particular aim is to discuss the limits and opportunities in deriving co-benefits from REDD+ activities.

For questions please email Maria Mansfield maria.mansfield@eci.ox.ac.uk

Call for papers and agenda<http://www.uea.ac.uk/dev/news/latest/REDD+conference+2012>

Full Information on the Beyond Carbon Conference<http://www.eci.ox.ac.uk/redd/index.php>

Sustainable Forest Management and Carbon Stocks

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Paper presented at the COP17 in Durban, South Africa

Abstract: Sustainable forest management (SFM) ensures the continuous flow of wood products and employment while improving the functionalities of forests. Until recently, many projects associated with the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) projects focused only on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, conservation of carbon stocks, or enhancement of carbon sinks. REDD+ projects concerned with securing timber production while reducing emissions are very few in number. In this report, we discuss how SFM through adoption of appropriate logging practice can lead to a reduction in carbon emissions while securing timber in the tropics. Logging practices affect timber production, the structure of forests, and forest-dependent communities because of damages caused by logging itself and the large amounts of logging and wood wastes. By switching from conventional logging to reduced-impact logging practices, International Tropical Timber Organization producer countries could reduce carbon emissions by about 1.2 billion tCO2 year–1 while still producing about 100.4 million m3 of end-use wood for commercial consumption under a 50-year project cycle, results being dependent on the chosen scenario. Study results suggest that a policy of reduced-impact logging combined with a longer cutting cycle and certification scheme is appropriate for SFM projects as a part of the REDD+ scheme.

Download COP17 presentation here!

PhD Opportunities in Finland

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Doctoral Program in Energy Efficiency and Systems (EES)

The Academy of Finland has granted funding for a new doctoral program for Energy Efficiency and Systems (EES) during 2012-2015.

Improving the energy and material efficiency in communities and industry is technologically feasible and economically feasible way to dramatically reduce the environmental impacts. The EES program educates researchers and experts for the needs of universities, industry and authorities.

The program is coordinated by Aalto University and it is carried out in partnership with the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, University of Helsinki, Åbo Akademi University, University of Jyväskylä, Tampere University of Technology, University of Vaasa, University of Oulu, and Lappeenranta University of Technology.

Applications are invited for

fifteen (15) salary positions for doctoral students
for a maximum of 4 (four) years starting on 1.1.2012. The applicants must have a MSc degree or equivalent on a suitable subject. Those who have already advanced in their doctoral studies can apply for 1-3 years. The major research fields of the inter-disciplinary program are

•energy technology and systems
•energy conversion and efficiency
•energy resources and environmental impacts
The deadline for applications is November 4th, 2011, at 16:00 Finnish time.

For further details see web pages at http://energia.tkk.fi/en/ees/.