Forest Conservation and Carbon Policy: The California Experience

1
Forest Conservation and Carbon Policy The
California Experience

• Forests and Carbon Forum
• October 16th, 2007

2
Overview

• The California Climate Action Registry
• California Climate Policy
• The Forest Protocols
• Lessons Learned

3
Background on the Registry

• Public/private partnership created by state
  legislation in 2000
• Facilitate organizations in establishing
  state-recognized baselines
• Develop GHG accounting protocols
• Encourage voluntary public reporting and promote
  early actions to reduce GHG emissions
• Operates entity-wide and project reporting
  programs
• Close ties to state government

4
State Climate Policy

• California Registry
• Automobile tailpipe regulations
• Senate Bill 812
• Executive Order S-3-05
• Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006
• Comprehensive multi-year program to reduce GHGs
  in California
• Overall goal to reduce to 1990 levels by 2020
• State Air Resources Board to implement
• Western Climate Initiative

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SB 812 (Sher, 2002)

• Instructed Registry to develop reporting
  certification protocols for forest sector
• Identified 3 project types
• Conservation-based forest management
• Reforestation
• Conservation
• Required
• Permanent easement
• Native species
• Natural forest management

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Global Warming Solutions Act Implementation

• Mandatory reporting (2008)
• Scoping plan (2009)
• Early Action plan (2010)
• Discrete early actions (regulations)
• Other early actions (voluntary and regulatory)
• Regulations to achieve target (2011)
• Implementation (2012)

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Protocol Development Process

• Voluntary multi-stakeholder workgroup
• External review
• Agency public review
• Public workshop
• Board review consideration
• Ongoing refinement

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Forest Protocol Components

• Forest Sector Protocol
• Reporting guidance for forest entities
• Forest Project Protocol
• Reporting guidance for 3 specified forest
  projects
• Forest Certification Protocol Entity and Project
• Verification guidance for approved forest
  verifiers

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Forest Sector Protocol

• Forest entity
• Legal entity or individual who owns gt 100 acres
  of commercial/non-commercial trees
• Must report both biological and non-biological
  emissions
• Purpose
• Track changes in carbon stocks and any related
  CO2 emissions (i.e. biological) over time
• GRP provides guidance for non-biological (e.g.
  fossil fuel) emissions
• Boundaries
• CA or US

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Forest Sector Protocol (contd)

• Entity Baseline
• Characterization quantification
• Stock Change Accounting
• Decreases in carbon stocks quantified as GHG
  emissions
• Quantification Requires Complete Inventory of
  Carbon Pools
• Required optional carbon pools
• Guidance and standards for sampling methodology
• Minimum confidence standards

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Forest Project Protocol

• Forest Project
• A planned set of activities that removes,
  reduces, or prevents CO2 emissions in the
  atmosphere by conserving and/or increasing carbon
  stocks
• Purpose
• Measure and monitor GHG reductions resulting from
  specific forest activities
• Project Types
• Conservation-based forest management
• Reforestation
• Conservation
• Quantification
• Process is the same as entity, with higher
  confidence

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Project Eligibility and Baseline Characterization

• Reforestation
• Out of forest cover (i.e. lt10 tree canopy cover)
• Expected future practices on land based on
  practices (or lack thereof) of previous ten years
• Conservation-based forest management
• CA Forest Practice Rules
• Conservation
• Immediate site specific threat or
• Land use conversion trends
• Additionality
• Project activity must be additional to baseline,
  including any applicable mandatory laws
• Must secure perpetual easement

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Conservation Baseline Example
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Management Baseline Example
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Permanence Leakage

• Permanence
• Perpetual easement dedicates land to permanent
  forest use (i.e. secures land base)
• Annual reporting to Registry verifies duration of
  additional carbon stocks (i.e. reductions)
• Leakage
• Must report Entity-level data to report a project
• Participant required to assess and quantify
  activity-shifting leakage (on-site)
• Market leakage assessment strongly
  encouragedRegistry to continue effort re
  quantitative approach

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Certification Protocol

• Ensures completeness, consistency and accuracy of
  data/methodologies
• Approved certifiers must include a Registered
  Professional Forester
• Certification components
• Conduct direct sampling (at beginning and end of
  6 year intervals)
• Review annual monitoring reports
• Assess methodologies, estimations, models and
  calculations
• Reported data must be free of material
  misstatements
• Plot calculations must be within 15 of
  certifiers

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Validation and Use

• US EPA comparative analysis/workshop
• Several projects in progress of reporting data to
  Registry
• WESTCARB Phase II will provide further validation
  and refinement
• PGEs Climate Protection Tariff will generate
  more widespread use
• Registry Forestry Committee recommending
  refinements

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Lessons Learned and Key Issues Going Forward

• Public lands engagement
• Easements and permanence
• Verification/certification efficiencies
• Leakage
• Wood products

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Contact Information
For More Information Sam Hitz Climate Change
Consultant Tel. [phone] sam_at_climateregistry
.org or California Climate Action Registry Tel.
[phone] info_at_climateregistry.org