4 July 2013, Forest Europe news - The Bonn Climate Change Conference took place in Germany from 3-14 June 2013. The thirty-eighth session of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA 38) achieved what many saw as good progress on, inter alia, reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries, the role of conservation and enhancement of forest carbon stocks (REDD+), and several methodological issues.

In detail, the discussions on methodological guidance for REDD+ resulted in draft COP 19 decisions on modalities for national forest monitoring systems and for addressing the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation. Parties are encouraged to integrate REDD+ elements into current national reporting exercises and will eventually have to report emissions every two years using Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines. However, there will be flexibility for the least developed countries.

On the other hand, since the parties’ views diverged over modalities for Measuring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) and guidelines and procedures for the technical assessment of party submissions on forest reference emission levels and/or forest reference levels, no decision was drafted for COP 19 but some text with elements for consideration is to be forwarded to SBSTA 39. In this annex, it is proposed that the reports will also include estimates of forest emissions and removals for the reporting period.

According to their conclusions regarding afforestation, reforestation, deforestation and additional activities within the LULUCF framework (Land use, land-use change and forestry) the SBSTA agreed to continue considering at its next session issues such as a more comprehensive accounting of anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks as well as possible additional LULUCF activities under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), among others. The SBSTA also asked the Secretariat to organize a workshop to address possible additional LULUCF activities.

Regarding Lands with Forest in Exhaustion under the CDM, after some discussions the SBSTA invites parties’ submissions on the implications of a possible revision to the eligibility of lands as CDM afforestation and reforestation project activities during the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol.