Purdue researchers propose way to incorporate deforestation into climate cha... (the greenhouse gas emissions reductions ...)

Purdue researchers propose way to incorporate deforestation into climate change treaty

Date:4/22/2008

the greenhouse gas emissions reductions currently being discussed. Forests are a major resource for developing countries. We must compensate them fairly for the value of this resource."

Unlike fossil fuel emissions' effect on climate, deforestation is poorly understood, Gurney said.

"The issue of deforestation is very complicated," he said. "We are not only concerned with the carbon emitted into the atmosphere when trees are cut down, but also with preserving forests because they provide food, medicine and a natural habitat."

Gurney and co-author Leigh Raymond, a Purdue associate professor of political science, detailed the Preservation Pathway approach in a paper that was published March 24 in the journal Carbon Balance and Management.

Raymond, who also is an associate director of Purdue's Climate Change Research Center, said the approach allows countries to choose what will work for them and provides an incentive for participation.

"The Preservation Pathway allows countries to select how much of the existing forest it will save," he said. "The greater the amount of forest preserved, the more credits the country earns. A country must also show a deceleration in deforestation of forest not set aside."

Raymond said the paper is a commentary to start discussion on the policy recommendation.

"Carbon emissions and stored carbon are the two big issues of climate change policy," he said. "The big question is how to deal with stored carbon in forests. Should a country get credit for the forests that exist on its land" Is that fair""

The ultimate goal of the Kyoto treaty is to have the whole world involved and actively working to reduce emissions that cause climate change, he said.

"The emissions and practices of one country affect the entire world," Raymond said. "We must get the developing countries on board. This approach enables that and also opens up the credit trading system. This will h
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Contact: Elizabeth K. Gardner
ekgardner@purdue.edu
765-494-2081
Purdue University
Source:Eurekalert

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Purdue researchers propose way to incorporate deforestation into climate cha...(the greenhouse gas emissions reductions ...)