Energy, Environment & Transport

Forestry carbon credit loophole could be used to game climate commitments

EXCLUSIVE / Weaknesses in the oversight of the European Union’s forestry sector has exposed it to the risk of being used to game government climate commitments and scoop up millions of euros worth of carbon credits.

Carbon accounting rules for forests need strengthening, campaigner say. [Joseph/Flickr]

James Crisp Euractiv 27-04-2016 06:14 4 min. read Content type: Euractiv is part of the Trust Project
Share
Facebook X LinkedIn Mail

Donec et orci aliquet nisl suscipit molestie sed sit amet tortor. Duis vel urna ac mi sollicitudin lacinia mollis sit amet lorem. Sed finibus erat nec libero scelerisque fringilla. Morbi at orci sed urna vulputate vulputate. Nulla facilisi. Donec et orci aliquet nisl suscipit molestie sed sit amet tortor.

Want to keep reading?

Get a subscription on Euractiv Pro and elevate your political insight!

Discover Euractiv Pro
For corporations

Background

The European Commission has this to say on LULUCF:

LULUCF (Land use, Land Use Change and Forestry) covers greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere and removal of carbon from the atmosphere resulting from our use of soils, trees, plants, biomass and timber.

Forests and agricultural lands currently cover more than three-quarters of the EU territory and naturally hold large stocks of carbon, preventing its escape into the atmosphere. But the draining of peat land, felling of forest or ploughing up grassland generates emissions; rewetting of organic soils, afforestation, conversion of arable land into grassland can result in protection of carbon stocks or even carbon sequestration.

The efforts of farmers and forest owners and their good practices for securing carbon stored in forests and soils have only partly been included in international agreements primarly due to the difficulty of collecting robust carbon data from forests and soils and the lack of common rules on how to account for emissions and removals.

Timeline

  • 10 July: Expected date for Effort Sharing Decision and LULUCF bill

Further Reading

Europe quietly shelves forestry debate ahead of Paris climate talks

A delicate negotiation about how to account for forestry and land use emissions looms large over this year’s UN climate conference in Paris. The issue is potentially divisive within the EU, and threatens to unravel the bloc’s proclaimed leadership on climate change.

Updated: 29-09-2024

Topics  

More from this section

Browse all articles
Energy, Environment & Transport

Rescue teams search for missing in Bosnia floods

06/10/2024

2 min. read

Energy, Environment & Transport

Climate activist Greta Thunberg detained at Brussels demo

06/10/2024

2 min. read

Energy, Environment & Transport

EU imports ever more gas from Russia than the US

04/10/2024

2 min. read

More from this author

Browse all articles
Energy, Environment & Transport

EU will fail Paris climate challenge unless it tackles heating and cooling

21/06/2017

7 min. read

The Brief: May’s shaky bid to be Supremes leader

07/06/2017

5 min. read

The Brief: Corbyn confounding expectations

06/06/2017

4 min. read

Subscribe to our newsletters

Subscribe