(Agenda item 4 (d))
Conclusions
(relating to agenda items 4 (d) and 4 (e))
At its 5 th meeting, on 6 November, having considered a proposal by the Chairman, the SBSTA adopted the following conclusions:
(a) The SBSTA noted with appreciation the presentation by the IPCC on the progress of its work and its proposed work programme on land use, land-use change and forestry. The SBSTA noted that in developing this work programme, in accordance with decision 11/CP.7, the IPCC should give priority to the development of good practice guidance as mentioned in paragraph 29 (b) below;
(b) The SBSTA welcomed the work programme proposed by the IPCC relating to the development of good practice guidance for land use, land-use change and forestry including separate sections for the purposes of the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol, noting specific additional requirements of the Kyoto Protocol, as elaborated in the draft decisions of the COP serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP/MOP), on land use, land-use change and forestry, on good practice guidance and adjustments under Article 5.2 and on guidelines for the preparation of the information on Article 7, as contained in COP decisions 11/CP.7, 21/CP.7 and 22/CP.7;
(c) In the context of the UNFCCC requirements, the SBSTA took note of the IPCC plan to aim for consistent representation of land areas;
(d) Noting paragraphs 29 (b) and 29 (c) above, the SBSTA also encouraged the IPCC to ensure that any elaboration of, or change to, the reporting of categories in chapter 5 of the 1996 Revised IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories allows for a comparison of information reported using the Good Practice Guidance with previous inventory reporting under the Convention;
(e) The SBSTA took note of the scoping paper proposed by the IPCC on the development of definitions for direct human-induced degradation and devegetation of forests and other vegetation types, and methodological options for inventorying and reporting on emissions resulting from these activities;1
(f) The SBSTA also took note of the proposed scoping paper of the IPCC on the development of practicable methodologies for factoring out direct human-induced changes in carbon stocks, and greenhouse gas emissions by sources and removals by sinks, from changes in carbon stocks and greenhouse gas emissions by sources and removals by sinks due to indirect human-induced effects, natural effects and effects due to past practices in forests;
(g) The SBSTA noted the intention of the IPCC to include harvested wood in the development of good practice guidance, maintaining consistency with decision 3/CP.5. The SBSTA encouraged the IPCC to incorporate into its work any future COP and COP/MOP decisions and SBSTA conclusions on harvested wood products. Such work should not pre-empt future discussions and work and any relevant decisions referred to in paragraphs 29 (l) and 29 (m) below;
(h) The SBSTA welcomed the involvement of the IPCC in the organization of a workshop on forest-related definitions, including biome-specific definitions and the terms ‘forest degradation’ and ‘devegetation’, organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the IPCC, and the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), to be held in Rome in January 2002;
(i) The SBSTA invited the IPCC to report at its next session and periodically thereafter on the progress of its work on the above issues;
(j) The SBSTA encouraged those Parties interested in accounting for emissions from harvested wood products to continue their work and informal collaboration on aspects of this topic, and welcomed any future input from Parties regarding new insights and findings;
(k) The SBSTA invited Parties to provide, by 15 January 2003, submissions on the implications of harvested wood products accounting, including views on different approaches and methodologies, for compilation into an addendum to the miscellaneous document FCCC/SBSTA/2001/MISC.1, for consideration at its eighteenth session;
(l) The SBSTA requested the secretariat to prepare a technical paper on harvested wood products accounting, taking into account socio-economic and environmental impacts, including impacts on developing countries, for consideration at its nineteenth and, if necessary, subsequent sessions. This paper should be based on, inter alia, submissions from Parties contained in FCCC/SBSTA/2001/MISC.1 and the addendum referred to in paragraph 29 (k) above, the outcome of the IPCC expert meeting in Dakar, any technical information relating to paragraph 29 (j) above, and other relevant sources of information. The SBSTA requested the secretariat to prepare this technical paper with the assistance of a limited number of experts from the UNFCCC roster of experts, ensuring an adequate participation of experts from developing and developed countries, as well as from countries with economies in transition, given the issues to be addressed in the technical paper;
(m) The SBSTA will further consider harvested wood products accounting and reporting at its twentieth and twenty-first sessions, taking into account the work and information referred to in paragraphs 29 (j), 29 (k) and 29 (l) above and the work of the IPCC on good practice guidance for land use, land-use change and forestry, with a view to recommending any relevant decisions to the COP and COP/MOP.
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1 For the text as adopted see document FCCC/CP/2001/13/Add.1, decision 11/CP.7, para. 3 (c).
