In the Media
ASEAN to decide on carbon dioxide levels
June 22, 2012
Malaya Business Insight
Reference levels for carbon dioxide emissions will soon be standardized for Southeast Asia. The new international agreement on climate change will include Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries (REDD+).
“The proposed guidelines will have to be discussed at the highest levels because it will impact on national policies,” said Dr. Gil C. Saguiguit Jr., Director of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA).
“Agreements on guidelines, modalities, methodologies and approaches are being crafted to move REDD+ towards implementation,” he explained. “ASEAN countries need to have their interests and unique forest conditions accommodated in the negotiations and agreements.”
SEARCA will identify approaches and technical assistance needed for the implementation of REDD+ as well as collaborative research in the region. Selective logging and the occurrence of forest fires are the most likely aspects of forest degradation among Asean countries that need to be studied collaboratively. Another research interest will be quantifying carbon stocks and carbon density among different types of forests. This will allow density mapping across forests and forest types in the region. Funded by the Asean Australia Development Corporation Program (AADCP), the project aims to enhance the regional grouping’s ability to coordinate REDD+ efforts to address the issue of climate change and its impacts on member states.
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Keywords: ASEAN, Asia, Brunei, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, REDD, reference emission levels, REL, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam