Advances in monitoring and reporting forest emissions and removals in the context of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

Publication date: 26/10/2020
Extent: 28 pages

Contributions by: Marieke Sandker and Till Neeff, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Italy

Chapter synopsis: This chapter provides an update on advances in monitoring and reporting emissions from mostly tropical forests in the context of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The world’s forests store vast amounts of carbon and sustainable forest management is therefore intimately linked to monitoring and reporting on greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions. Many countries are making progress in developing National Strategies and/or Action Plans for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), developing and submitting REDD+ Forest Reference (Emission) Levels (FREL/FRLs) and REDD+ results to the UNFCCC. The chapter illustrates the choices countries have made when constructing their FREL/FRLs and areas for improvement identified during technical assessments. Such information can help countries to learn from each other’s experiences and thus facilitate South–South knowledge exchange on REDD+. The chapter concludes with an outlook on expected future advancement in measuring, reporting and verifying REDD+.

DOI: 10.19103/AS.2020.0074.28