Kalimantan Forests and Climate Partnership (KFCP) Design ...

ATTACHMENT 6. GHG EMISSIONS REL AND MONITORING
PART OF ATTACHMENT 5 OF THE KFCP FRAMEWORK DESIGN
DOCUMENT (OCTOBER 2008)
Emissions Accounting and Monitoring
In preparing for REDD there is a need to:
1. Decide on definitions;
2. Decide on REL characteristics;
3. Determine suitable accounting and monitoring data and ascertain access to necessary data;
4. Decide on a system for national REL setting; and
5. Decide on a methodology for monitoring.
Indonesia will need to establish a system for time series data as well as improvements in long-term
data and methods. Climate change more than any other challenge requires a reconsideration of the
way in which the agencies of government relate to each other, share resources and share information.
Five steps are essential to ensure an effective and functional forest monitoring system:
1. Clear understanding of responsibilities — who does what and when;
2. Regular and timely reporting of accurate and precise data;
3. Access to data between different groups inside the ministry, government and stakeholders;
4. Using the data to have improved decision making; and
5. Using the data to enforce laws.
Not all these requirements will be met through the work on the measurement regime. The new Forest
Resource Information System (FRIS) is a logical beginning for a Government-wide integrated
decision and policy support system.
Establishing a REL 25
A REL is a projection of emissions from deforestation and degradation against which reductions in
emissions can be measured. The REL is prepared based on projected area change of forests and a
calculation of the change in carbon stocks that the change would represent. The change in area and the
carbon stock represented by the change in vegetation must both be estimated with an acceptable level
of certainty. Since it is likely international credits will be awarded against a national REL only if it is
particularly important in the context of a market for trading in emissions.
As a result of the work undertaken by the IFCA prior to the COP 13 in Bali, the likely approaches to
setting a ‗baseline‘ or reference period against which to benchmark reductions in deforestation and
degradation were identified. They and the questions associated with them are:
1. A linear projection of the past - over which time interval and how far back?
2. An average of past conditions - again over which time interval and how far back?
3. A modelling projection based on unplanned (unsanctioned) activities and planned land
use to meet development goals - which models and how far into the future?
Where deforestation and degradation in natural forests or protected areas is unplanned a historical
spatial analysis may be appropriate. Modelling may be more suitable where conversion of forest estate
to plantation for non-forest uses such as oil palm estates is planned.
Historic REL
Logically the time period, termed the reference period, chosen for historic REL projection has a
critical influence on the result. Rates of deforestation change over time due to a range of factors,
25
This section has drawn on the IFCA Draft Consolidation Report of February 2008.
KALIMANTAN FORESTS AND CLIMATE PARTNERSHIP (KFCP) DESIGN DOCUMENT 6-1