Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the United States 2003
Accounting for Harvested Wood Products in Future Greenhouse Gas Inventories
Harvested wood products (HWP) are defined as “goods manufactured or processed from wood, including lumber and panels for end uses such as housing and furniture, and paper and paperboard for uses such as packaging, printing and writing, and sanitary applications.”a HWP are an important part of the overall carbon cycle and are thus integral to any greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting system or inventory.
Preparation of the IPCC 2006 Guidelines for national greenhouse gas inventories under the UNFCCC— including methods for estimating and reporting of HWP—is underway. The issue of accounting for HWP, however, is a complex one, and involves the consideration of factors such as international trade (import-export) of wood products, timing of emissions accounting, determining whether emissions include those from existing wood product pools or solely from harvesting, and establishing how complex or simplistic the accounting approach should be so as not to create barriers to participation.b The choice of what accounting approach is to be used for HWP by the IPCC in its 2006 Guidelines remains to be determined. Three individual accounting approaches (i.e., stock-change approach, production approach, and atmospheric-flow approach) for reporting HWP in the national greenhouse gas inventories under the UNFCCC have been developed and debated. These three approaches were discussed at a UNFCCC-sponsored workshop held in Norway on August 30 through September 2, 2004, and are detailed below. Final guidance could be adopted late in 2004 based on the decisions made at this workshop.c
The first approach under consideration for HWP is the stock-change approach. This approach accounts for changes in carbon stock in forests in the country in which the wood is grown, deemed the producing country. Changes in the products pool are accounted for in the country where the products are used, deemed the consuming country. These stock changes are counted within national boundaries, where and when they occur.d Under this approach, the HWP stock change in a country may be estimated considering either transfers into and out of the HWP pool, or the difference between HWP carbon stocks at two different set points in time.
The next alternative—the atmospheric flow approach— accounts for emissions or sequestration of carbon to and/or from the atmosphere within national boundaries, both where and when emissions and sequestration occur. The producing country accounts for sequestration of carbon attributed to forest growth, while the consuming country accounts for emissions of carbon to the atmosphere from oxidation of HWP.e Under this approach, it is the net CO2 flow from the pools to the atmosphere that would be reported as the equivalent emission, and the net flow in the opposite direction as the equivalent amount of carbon sequestration.f
The third approach for accounting for HWP is the production approach. While this approach also reports changes in carbon stock, it is the producing country that reports the stock changes in HWP regardless of the location of the stock (i.e., whether within country boundaries or exported).g This approach thus accounts for domestically produced stocks only; that is, stock changes are counted when, but not where, they occur if wood products are exported or traded.h
An additional method—the simple decay approach— was proposed by one Annex I country and is effectively a method falling under the production approach. This method assumes that HWP remain a part of the forest in which they were produced until decomposed.i This approach is therefore similar to the production approach in that it also estimates the stock changes in HWP when, but not where, they occur if wood products are exported or traded. Both sequestration of carbon from the atmosphere due to forest growth and emissions resulting from harvesting are accounted for in the producing country.j
a”United States Submission on the Views Related to Carbon Accounting and Wood Products,” in United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Issues Relating to Harvested Wood Products, Paper No. 7 (May 10, 2004), pp. 42-43, web site http://unfccc.int/ resource/docs/2004/sbsta/misc09.pdf.
bM. Ward, “Harvested Wood Products, A Beginning Guide to Key Issues,” Senior Counsel to the Government of New Zealand (July 2004).
cK. Pingoud et al., "Approaches for Inclusion of Harvested Wood Products in Future GHG Inventories Under the UNFCCC, and their Consistency with the Overall UNFCCC Inventory Reporting Framework," IEA Bioenergy (July 13, 2004).
dM. Ward (July 2004).
eM. Ward (July 2004).
fK. Pingoud et al. (July 13, 2004).
gK. Pingoud, et al. (July 13, 2004).
hM. Ward (July 2004).
iK. Pingoud et al. (July 13, 2004).
jM. Ward (July 2004).
Released: December 2004