Kirschbaum, M. (2003). The Clean Development
Mechanism. In: Carbon Accounting in Forests. Proceedings of
an International Frontiers of Science and Technology Workshop held at CSIRO
Forestry and Forest Products, Canberra (Booth, T.H., ed.), Australian Academy
of Technological Sciences and Engineering, pp. 6-23.
Abstract. The total amount of carbon
contained in all the world’s forests is a significant part of the global carbon
cycle. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol will allow
afforestation and reforestation projects to be established in developing
countries to assist industrialised countries reach their emission reduction
targets. The baseline carbon emission rate in the absence of the project must
be estimated. Reductions in emissions must be additional to those that would
have occurred without the project. The projects must be sustainable, and the
consequences of the projects on other sites and carbon pools must be assessed.
Methods to assess carbon savings in vegetation need to be agreed upon, as they
are inherently less permanent than savings from improved energy efficiency or
reduced energy consumption that are also allowed under the CDM. Economic
analysis methods will be required to identify harvest times that optimize both
carbon sequestration and conventional forest product values. It will be
essential to monitor and validate carbon sequestration in any such forestry
projects.
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