Carbon sequestration can be defined as the capture and secure storage of carbon that would otherwise be emitted to or remain in the atmosphere. This publication contains the results of a study on the origin and background of the carbon sequestration options and the Clean Development Mechanism. The attitude and position of the key countries involved in international environmental treaties is examined, as well as the various initiatives that have been taken and the legal bases for such initiatives. [FAO website]

This publication contains a methodology and software tools for assessing carbon stocks and modelling scenarios of carbon sequestration developed and tested in pilot field studies in Mexico and Cuba. The models and tools enable the analysis of land use change scenarios in order to identify in a given area (watershed or district) land use alternatives and land management practices that can both maximise food production, soil carbon sequestration and biodiversity and minimize land degradation. The aims is to develop and implement "win-win" options that satisfy the multiple goals of farmers, land users and other stakeholders in relation to food security, carbon sequestration, biodiversity and land conservation. The publication also contains a CD-ROM including three case studies and a Soil-C program demo, program and user manual.

For decades conservation has been based on the donor-driven principle. It hasn't worked. For centuries, environmental pollution or degradation has been addressed by the same attitude: the 'Polluter Pays' principle. That hasn't worked either. The cycle has to stop. But while everyone talks about using a market-driven approach, few know how to do it. Faced with the situation on the ground what do you do? What is happening? How can you engage a system so that it is self-sustaining and the people self-motivated? This study explores how the growing market in carbon can help to conserve carbon-based life forms. It discusses how reducing global warming and saving biodiversity can both be achieved with the right market conditions. The contributors include conservation biologists, ecologists, biologists, economists, lawyers, community and tribal specialists, financial specialists, market makers, environment specialists, climatologists, resource managers, atmospheric scientists, project developers and corporate fund managers.

A Brookings Institution Press and Chatham House publication The global climate change problem has finally entered the world's consciousness. While efforts to find a solution have increased momentum, international attention has focused primarily on the industrial and energy sectors. The forest, and land-use sector, however, remains one of the most significant untapped opportunities for carbon mitigation. The expiration of the Kyoto Protocol's first commitment period in 2012 presents an opportunity for the international community to put this sector back on the agenda. In this timely, wide-ranging volume, an international team of experts explain the links between climate change and forests, highlighting the potential utility of this sector within emerging climate policy frameworks and carbon markets. After framing forestry activities within the larger context of climate-change policy, the contributors analyze the operation and efficacy of market-based mechanisms for forest conservation and climate change. Drawing on experiences from around the world, the authors present concrete recommendations for policymakers, project developers, and market participants. They discuss sequestration rights in Chile, carbon offset programs in Australia and New Zealand, and emerging policy incentives at all levels of the U.S. government. The book also explores the different voluntary schemes for carbon crediting, provides an overview of best practices in carbon accounting, and presents tools for use in future sequestration and offset programs. It concludes with consideration of various incentive options for slowing deforestation and protecting the world's remaining forests. Climate Change and Forests provides a realistic view of the role that the forest and land-use sector can play in a post-Kyoto regime. It will serve as a practical reference manual for anyone concerned about climate policy, including the negotiators working to define a robust and enduring international framework for addressing climate change.

This paper proposed a methodological framework for the assessment of carbon stocks and the development and identification of land use, land use change and land management scenarios, whereby enhancing carbon sequestration synergistically increases biodiversity, the prevention of land degradation and food security through the increases in crop yields. The framework integrates satellite image interpretation, computer modelling tools (i.e. software customization of off-the-shelf soil organic matter turnover simulation models) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS). The framework addresses directly and indirectly the cross-cutting ecological concerns foci of major global conventions: climate change, biodiversity, the combat of desertification and food security. Their synergies are targeted by providing procedures for assessing and identifying simultaneously carbon sinks, potential increases in plant diversity, measures to prevent land degradation and enhancements in food security through crop yields, implicit in each land use change and land management scenario. The scenarios aim at providing quot;win-winquot; options to decision makers through the framework's decision support tools. Issues concerning complex model parameterization and spatial representation were tackled through tight coupling soil carbon models to GIS via software customization. Results of applying the framework in the field in two developing countries indicate that reasonably accurate estimates of carbon sequestration can be obtained through modeling; and that alternative best soil organic matter management practices that arrest shifting quot;slash-and-burnquot; cultivation and prevent burning and emissions, can be identified. Such options also result in increased crop yields and food security for an average family size in the area, while enhancing biodiversity and preventing land degradation. These options demonstrate that the judicious management of organic matter is central to greenhouse gas mitigation and the attainment of synergistic ecological benefits, which is the concern of global conventions. The framework is to be further developed through successive approximations and refinement in future, extending its applicability to other landscapes.