Green carbon is part of the climate change equation

Our forests are massive carbon stores Recent research results show that we are significantly underestimating the ‘green carbon’ in natural forests. This green carbon stock is larger and more stable than the ‘brown carbon’ stored in plantations and industrially logged forests. The biodiversity of natural forests makes these ecosystems resilient to disturbance. The mass of carbon found in natural forests is surprisingly large. Detailed studies have shown that Australia’s intact Eucalypt forests store on average around 650 tonnes of carbon per hectare – far more that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) default values for temperate forests of 60 tonnes of carbon. Current approaches inadequately account for green carbon in natural forests and must be improved if we are to know their real value in helping to solve the climate change problem.

At an official side event to the Climate talks in Bali, Professor Brendan Mackey from the ANU WildCountry Research and Policy Hub presented new scientific research highlighting the critical role forest protection and “green carbon” can play in addressing climate change.

The research has implications for effective carbon accounting in natural forests and quantifying the impact of deforestation and forest degradation.
The cuts in greenhouse gas emissions needed to tackle climate change, along with the urgency to achieve these cuts, means we have no choice but to halt and indeed reverse deforestation and forest degradation as part of a comprehensive solution to the climate change problem.

At least 18% of greenhouse gas emissions are from deforestation and we have yet to account for the impact of commercial logging, which reduces the carbon stocks in natural forests by about 40%.

Scientifically, the carbon dioxide emitted from land clearing and degrading has the same impact on climate change irrespective of where the forest occurs. Protecting the natural forests in Australia, Canada, USA and Russia is as necessary as protecting forests in Africa, Asia and South America.

Whatever policies we develop to protect green carbon must address the emissions from natural forests in all countries – including Annex 1 countries which include Australia, USA and Canada. As a minimum, Annex 1 countries should start reporting immediately on all emissions from forestry.

The scientific paper from which this summary was prepared is currently being peer reviewed for publication.