On the additionality of "forestry carbon tickets".
Forestry carbon sequestration is the most economical and environmentally friendly carbon sequestration and emission reduction measure, and it is one of the important measures to respond to climate change and implement the national "dual carbon" strategy. The results show that every 1 cubic meter increase in forest volume can absorb about 1.83 tons of carbon dioxide and release 1.62 tons of oxygen; increasing forest volume is the main way to sequester carbon and release oxygen, in addition to strengthening forest management measures, the logging ban policy has played a decisive role in increasing the total forest volume, but the logging ban policy has seriously affected the forestry operators to harvest trees to obtain profits; the central government has 16 yuan per mu per year for the compensation of non-state-owned national public welfare forests affected by the logging ban policy and the subsidy standard for the management and protection of non-state-owned natural commercial forests, and some economically developed provinces have supporting facilities on the basis of the central financial subsidies, and the compensation standards have been increased accordingly, but it is difficult to compensate for the losses of forest rights owners due to the ban on logging.
The impact of the forestry logging ban policy has caused great social contradictions, forest rights owners often obtain forest land management rights and forest tree ownership through bank loans and private loans, and the impact of the policy makes it impossible to repay the loans through the income from felling trees, and the national and provincial compensation is a drop in the bucket, and it is difficult for the finance to greatly increase the compensation standard in the short term; in the context of the national carbon peak and carbon neutrality strategy, the forestry logging ban policy is also difficult to adjust; the mainland has huge advantages and potential in the development of forestry carbon sinks, which has important strategic and practical significance for helping carbon neutrality; Under the background of the "dual carbon" strategy, it is urgent to establish and explore ways to realize the value of ecological products with "forestry carbon sink" as the main mechanism, so as to solve the contradiction between forestry development and protection.
1. The basic situation of forestry carbon sequestration in mainland China
At present, there are three modes of forestry carbon sequestration trading in mainland China, namely, the offset mechanism relying on the carbon emission trading market, the voluntary emission reduction trading mechanism, and other forestry carbon sequestration trading, and the Administrative Measures for Carbon Emission Trading (Trial) was promulgated on December 31, 2020 and will come into force on February 1, 2021. Article 29 of the Measures stipulates that forestry carbon sinks can be used as national certified voluntary emission reductions to offset the payment of carbon emission allowances. Forestry carbon sinks can participate in national carbon emission trading.
There are national certified voluntary emission reduction (CCER) projects in the domestic forestry carbon sink trading varieties, which can be used for the performance offset use of key emitting enterprises in the national carbon market, and the Beijing Certified Emission Reduction Project (BCER) project, Guangdong Province Carbon Generalized System Certified Emission Reduction (PHCER) project, and Fujian Forestry Carbon Sequestration Emission Reduction (FFCER) project, the emission reduction of such projects can be used for the offset performance of local carbon market emission control enterprises and the use of carbon neutrality by enterprises, and cannot be circulated in the national carbon market.
Second, the main issues
(1) The current methodology restricts the development of forestry carbon sequestration projects
Forestry National Certified Voluntary Emission Reductions (CCER) projects that are included in the current national carbon emission trading market offset mechanism need to be developed through the methodology filed with the national competent authority, and there are currently seven forestry carbon sink methodologies recorded: carbon sequestration afforestation, forest management, bamboo afforestation, bamboo forest management, sustainable grassland management greenhouse gas emission reduction measurement and monitoring, The methodology of the project of reducing emissions and ecological restoration of small-scale non-coal mining areas for the production of wood-based panels from waste crop straw instead of wood; At present, CCER (China Certified Emission Reduction) forestry carbon sequestration project approval and emission reduction issuance need to be declared twice, and it generally takes 1.5-2 years from project generation to filing and issuance, which seriously hinders the development of forestry carbon sequestration projects.
(2) There is no national filing methodology for the development of "forestry carbon ticket" projects
Faced with this situation, Sanming City, Fujian Province, innovatively developed a "forestry carbon ticket" in 2021; Unlike the existing forestry CCER methodology, which can only develop planted forests, "forestry carbon tickets" can not only be developed for planted forests, but also public welfare forests and natural commercial forests that are prohibited by the policy The development of "forestry carbon ticket" is mainly based on the "Guidelines for the Measurement of Carbon Storage in Forest Ecosystems" issued by the state, and the carbon emission reduction amount issued by the third-party organization monitoring and accounting, expert review, approval by the competent forestry department, and the issuance of the competent department of ecology and environment; This refers to the amount of net carbon sequestered annually under the natural growth conditions of the forest, while carbon sink projects refer to the additional carbon stocks added each year. Sanming City's "forestry carbon ticket" has broken through the existing forestry carbon sink methodology, which is a bold innovation and exploration, and all parts of the country have followed Sanming City's practice and innovative practices to develop "forestry carbon tickets".
"Forestry carbon ticket" is a useful exploration of the value realization mechanism of local forestry ecological products, because it is not developed in accordance with the national filing methodology, it cannot be included in the national carbon market trading varieties and key emitting unit quota offset use, which seriously restricts the flow and realization of "forestry carbon ticket";
3. The additionality of "forestry carbon tickets".
In order to solve the social contradictions caused by the policy of banning logging of public welfare forests and natural commercial forests, increase forest stock, give full play to the important role of forestry in promoting the realization of the vision of carbon neutrality, and establish a mechanism for realizing the value of forestry ecological products, it is necessary to break the obstacles to the inclusion of "forestry carbon tickets" into the offset mechanism of the national carbon market as soon as possible, and the core problem is to demonstrate whether "forestry carbon tickets" have additionality.
(1) Develop and record the methodology of "forestry carbon ticket".
According to the current rules, the emission reduction mechanism included in the national carbon trading market needs to be developed according to the national filing methodology, and the corresponding "forestry carbon ticket" methodology needs to be developed on the basis of the "Forest Ecosystem Carbon Storage Measurement Guide", so as to unify the basis for local development of "forestry carbon ticket", and clear the technical and policy obstacles for the inclusion of "forestry carbon ticket" in the national carbon market trading products and offset mechanism. To develop the methodology of "forestry carbon ticket", it is necessary to solve the problem of whether "forestry carbon ticket" has additionality.
(2) The "forestry carbon ticket" is additional
The "forestry carbon ticket" refers to the annual net carbon sequestration under the natural growth conditions of the forest, while the current forestry carbon sink project refers to the additional carbon storage added each year. This paper discusses the issue of whether the "forestry carbon ticket" is additional to the development of public welfare forests, natural commercial forests and other factors that are restricted from logging, and whether the "forestry carbon ticket" is not in the category of whether the "forestry carbon ticket" is additional, which is relatively less affected by the logging policy.
"Additionality" refers to the fact that the emission reductions brought about by the project activities are additional to the baseline, that is, such projects and their emission reductions are difficult to achieve without the support of external CCER projects in terms of financial benefit indicators, financing channels, technical risks, market penetration and resource conditions, and it is difficult to achieve them by relying on the existing conditions of the project owner. The "baseline" and "additionality" arguments of CCER projects generally include four dimensions (steps': 'certification of the first similar project, obstacle analysis, investment analysis and generality analysis'. In short, after these evidences, investigations, and arguments, we need to confirm and judge the 'baseline' of the proposed project, whether there are obstacles to commercialization, whether the investment return is lower than the relevant standards, and whether it has commercialization prospects. ”
(1) The theory and system of forestry classification management explain the additionality of "forestry carbon ticket" of public welfare forests
Article 6 of the newly revised Forest Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates that the state shall aim to cultivate a stable, healthy, high-quality and efficient forest ecosystem, implement classified management of public welfare forests and commercial forests, highlight the leading functions, play a variety of functions, and realize the sustainable use of forest resources. For the first time, the implementation of classified management of public welfare forests and commercial forests was included in the chapter of "General Provisions of the Forest Law" as a basic legal system. At the same time, in the chapters of "forest protection" and "operation and management", the standards, scope and procedures for the demarcation of public welfare forests are refined, and the specific management systems of public welfare forests and commercial forests are stipulated.
The forestry classification management system can be traced back to 1995, the former National Institutional Reform Commission, the Ministry of Forestry jointly promulgated the "Forestry Economic System Reform General Outline", which proposed that "the cultivation of forest resources should be in accordance with the use of forests and the purpose of production and operation of public welfare forests and commercial forests, the implementation of classified management, classified management". In 1999, the Notice of the State Forestry Administration on Carrying out the Definition of National Forest Classification and Zoning required all localities to carry out the work of forest classification and zoning. Based on this, the first forest classification and zoning definition was carried out in the country. In 2003, the "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Accelerating the Development of Forestry" clearly stated: "Implement the forestry classification management system. The national forestry industry is divided into two categories: public welfare forestry and commercial forestry, and different management systems, management mechanisms and policy measures are adopted respectively. "When the Forest Law was amended in 1998, it was stipulated that shelter forests and special-purpose forests among the five major forest species should adopt different harvesting and circulation systems from the other three types of forest species.
Under the forestry classification management system, the mainland has established different management and management systems for public welfare forests and commercial forests, and implemented different management policies: for public welfare forests, the core of forestry policies is strict protection. First, strict logging management. Public welfare forests mainly give full play to ecological benefits, and can only be harvested for tending, regeneration and transformation of low-quality and low-efficiency forests except for special needs such as scientific research, fire prevention and pest control. Second, the scope of public welfare forest utilization is limited. Only under the premise of meeting the requirements of ecological location protection of public welfare forests, not affecting the ecological functions of public welfare forests, and being scientifically demonstrated, the forest land resources and forest landscape resources of public welfare forests can be rationally utilized, and the understory economy and forest tourism can be moderately carried out.
Public welfare forests have caused heavy losses to the rights and interests of forest right owners, especially non-state-owned public welfare forest operators; public welfare forests can hardly be operated and can only be protected, and most of the forest land and trees owned by collectives and individuals are not aware of the fact that they are classified as public welfare forests, and the owners' right to dispose of the trees is prohibited; in the case of public welfare forests, collective, individual and social capital are unwilling to invest in afforestation, and there is almost no return on investment; for state-owned public welfare forests, they all depend on financial investment, and it is difficult for the central and local financial afforestation and management investment to meet the demand for funds. The management system of public welfare forests strictly restricts the forest right owners from harvesting trees to obtain profits, and increases the forest stock and carbon pool through the ban on logging, while the forest rights owners of public welfare forests can only make up for the insignificant losses by obtaining limited compensation for forest ecological benefits. The policy of public welfare forests has increased the carbon pool of mainland forests.
Therefore, the annual net carbon sequestration of public welfare forests under the natural growth conditions of public welfare forests under the classification management system of forestry in mainland China is the annual increase in additional carbon storage, and the baseline line for public welfare forests is 0.
(2) The policy of stopping the harvesting of natural commercial forests makes the "forestry carbon ticket" additional
Natural forest is the essence of forest resources in mainland China, and it is the forest ecosystem with the most complex structure, the most stable community, the largest biomass, the richest biodiversity and the strongest ecological function. The deforestation of natural commercial forests plays an important role in increasing the "forest carbon pool".
The newly revised Forest Law, which came into effect on July 1, 2020, stipulates that the state implements a comprehensive protection system for natural forests, strictly restricts the felling of natural forests, strengthens the capacity building of natural forest management and protection, protects and restores natural forest resources, and gradually improves the ecological functions of natural forests. This is a new provision. In 1998, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council decided to implement natural forest resources protection projects in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, the upper and middle reaches of the Yellow River, and key state-owned forest areas such as Northeast China and Inner Mongolia. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the protection of natural forests has been further strengthened, and commercial logging of natural forests has been completely stopped. The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) clearly called for "improving the protection system of natural forests". In 2019, the Office of the Central Committee of the People's Republic of China and the Office of the State Council issued the Plan for the Protection and Restoration of Natural Forests, which systematically and comprehensively deployed the protection of natural forests.
The central government supports the complete cessation of logging of natural commercial forests, and provides 10 yuan for the subsidy standard for the management and protection of state-owned natural commercial forests, and 16 yuan for the subsidy standard for the management and protection of non-state-owned natural commercial forests. Stopping the commercial logging of natural forests is a major decision made by the state to restore forest resources, expand forest area, improve forest quality and enhance forest ecological functions.
The policy of banning logging in natural forests has increased the forest stock and increased the forest carbon pool, but this is in exchange for harming the interests of forest right owners; no one is willing to invest in natural commercial forests when the policy is promulgated; the policy of banning logging in natural commercial forests makes it "additional", and the annual net carbon sequestration under the natural growth conditions of natural forests is the additional carbon storage added every year, and the baseline of natural commercial forests that are prohibited from logging is zero.
At present, the CCER (China Certified Emission Reduction) forestry carbon sequestration project allows the development of planted forests, considering that it respects the original policy while taking into account the actual situation; it is suggested that the "forestry carbon ticket" limits the development of public welfare forests, natural commercial forests and other factors that are affected by the forestry logging ban policy. Considering fairness, the proportion of emission reductions in the national carbon market offset mechanism of "forestry carbon ticket" projects can be set to be lower than that of the current CCER (China Certified Emission Reduction) forestry carbon sink projects.
Sun Jiuling
June 28, 2022