One part of the solution: carbon sinks

In the past 10 years, global warming has become a public policy issue high on national and international agendas. In 1997, Japan hosted the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Kyoto. At the end of a series of grueling negotiations, the international agreement called for the European Union to achieve CO2 reductions 8 percent below 1990 levels; the United States 7 percent below 1990 levels and Japan 6 percent below 1990 levels between the years 2008 and 2012.

Nations are looking for cost-effectiveness and calling for strong, transparent international rules that maximize the potential of the Kyoto Protocol's market-based tools to achieve cost-effective emissions reductions.

The Kyoto Protocol identifies several market-based options for reducing greenhouse gases. It provides for possible carbon emissions trading among developed countries; allows for joint implementation (JI) project activities and provides for the creation of a "Clean Development Mechanism" whereby industrialized countries can undertake joint implementation projects in developing countries. The Kyoto Protocol also introduced a limited net accounting for carbon sequestration as an offset to greenhouse gas emissions.

"If sequestration is done correctly it can have many benefits. But done poorly it can make the greenhouse problem worse and do a lot of damage to the ecosystem."
-Michael Oppenheimer, Senior Scientist, Environmental Defense

HNRG recognizes that transparency in accounting and protection of existing native forests for biodiversity will be fundamental to insuring every project meets the principles of sustainable development.

Carbon sequestration
Trees absorb CO2 to grow, and hold carbon in their trunks, roots and crowns. Over time, the accumulation of carbon in trees is called sequestration. Combating climate change means removing excess CO2 from the atmosphere and creating and maintaining stocks of carbon in the form of growing trees and agricultural products.

Carbon sequestration-or carbon sinks-is one of a suite of instruments under the Kyoto Protocol. Through reforestation, enhanced carbon dioxide absorption can be counted against emissions reduction targets. The international agreement, therefore, will give farmers and foresters new economic opportunities.

Carbon sequestration through forests promises secondary benefits such as curbing erosion, enhancing watershed protection and improved local biodiversity. Major forestry opportunities include reestablishing forests in areas of marginal agricultural lands, establishing tree crops for bio-energy production, reducing forest burning and deforestation and increasing use of wood in durable products.

Ecologists, world leaders and legislators are looking to the world's forests as one way to address the carbon dioxide increases from fossil fuel combustion.