Role of Major Forest Biomes in Climate Change Mitigation …
505
also greatly affected by extreme weather events like windstorms that cause uprooting of trees, which would in turn lead to drastic changes in the forest community
dynamics (Ulanova 2000; Lorenz and Lal 2010) and carbon removal.
A main response of boreal forests to climate change and global warming is its
expansion northward and into the tundra biome, while temperate forests simultaneously invade its southern border (Milakovsky et al. 2012). A steady movement of
boreal forests northward has been observed (Brecka et al. 2018) because of which
the tundra biome is likely to lose 50% of its areal extent. Also, the on-going climate
change could result in the loss of evergreen species replaced by deciduous tree species
(Bonan 2008). The expansion of boreal forests into the tundra biome would mean
that there is an increased risk of forest fires in tundra region (Kasischke et al. 1995).
The northward expansion of boreal forest biome would result in treeline changes,
causing changes in albedo in the northernmost latitudes. Although albedo neither
causes carbon storage or release directly, it highly influences the amount of heat
absorbed by the biome (Milakovsky et al. 2012). Expansion and extension of tree
cover in boreal forests would decrease the surface albedo and increase the warming
in boreal forests (Bonan 2008). Therefore, by way of expansion, boreal forests would
cause climatic warming on both regional and global scales, which may outstrip their
role as carbon sinks (Betts 2000; Milakovsky et al. 2012).
8 Climate Change Mitigation: Steps Taken so Far
Climate change has grabbed the attention of scientists since 1820s and since then, the
strategies to combat climate change in the form of adaptation and mitigation has been
formulated (Stein et al. 2013; Bhattarai 2017). The United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development held on June1992 at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, addressed
a broad spectrum of issues related to climate change, biodiversity, etc. and led to
the establishment of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) (Raufer and Iyer 2012) in 1994 leading to the Conference of Parties
(CoP) meet every year. The adoption of the Kyoto Protocol (1997), which entered
into force on 2005 recognizes the critical role that the forests play in reducing the
emissions of carbon dioxide (Bettinger et al. 2017) and focusses on regulating major
six greenhouse gases.
The Kyoto Protocol recognizes three flexibility mechanisms for the countries to
meet their emission targets, viz., Joint Implementation (JI; Article 6), Clean Development Mechanism (CDM; Article 12) and International Emissions Trading (IET;
Article 17). CDM and JI are together known as ‘project-based mechanisms’related
to emission reductions from projects. In the case of IET, the Annex I parties (which
include developed countries and countries with economy in transition) allowed to
trade their emissions, otherwise referred as Assigned Amount Units (AAUs). Emission Reduction Units (ERUs) from another Annex I country via emission-reduction
or emission-removal projects. The CDM enables the Non-Annex I parties (developing countries) to earn Certified Emission Reduction (CER) credits, each equivalent
505
also greatly affected by extreme weather events like windstorms that cause uprooting of trees, which would in turn lead to drastic changes in the forest community
dynamics (Ulanova 2000; Lorenz and Lal 2010) and carbon removal.
A main response of boreal forests to climate change and global warming is its
expansion northward and into the tundra biome, while temperate forests simultaneously invade its southern border (Milakovsky et al. 2012). A steady movement of
boreal forests northward has been observed (Brecka et al. 2018) because of which
the tundra biome is likely to lose 50% of its areal extent. Also, the on-going climate
change could result in the loss of evergreen species replaced by deciduous tree species
(Bonan 2008). The expansion of boreal forests into the tundra biome would mean
that there is an increased risk of forest fires in tundra region (Kasischke et al. 1995).
The northward expansion of boreal forest biome would result in treeline changes,
causing changes in albedo in the northernmost latitudes. Although albedo neither
causes carbon storage or release directly, it highly influences the amount of heat
absorbed by the biome (Milakovsky et al. 2012). Expansion and extension of tree
cover in boreal forests would decrease the surface albedo and increase the warming
in boreal forests (Bonan 2008). Therefore, by way of expansion, boreal forests would
cause climatic warming on both regional and global scales, which may outstrip their
role as carbon sinks (Betts 2000; Milakovsky et al. 2012).
8 Climate Change Mitigation: Steps Taken so Far
Climate change has grabbed the attention of scientists since 1820s and since then, the
strategies to combat climate change in the form of adaptation and mitigation has been
formulated (Stein et al. 2013; Bhattarai 2017). The United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development held on June1992 at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, addressed
a broad spectrum of issues related to climate change, biodiversity, etc. and led to
the establishment of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) (Raufer and Iyer 2012) in 1994 leading to the Conference of Parties
(CoP) meet every year. The adoption of the Kyoto Protocol (1997), which entered
into force on 2005 recognizes the critical role that the forests play in reducing the
emissions of carbon dioxide (Bettinger et al. 2017) and focusses on regulating major
six greenhouse gases.
The Kyoto Protocol recognizes three flexibility mechanisms for the countries to
meet their emission targets, viz., Joint Implementation (JI; Article 6), Clean Development Mechanism (CDM; Article 12) and International Emissions Trading (IET;
Article 17). CDM and JI are together known as ‘project-based mechanisms’related
to emission reductions from projects. In the case of IET, the Annex I parties (which
include developed countries and countries with economy in transition) allowed to
trade their emissions, otherwise referred as Assigned Amount Units (AAUs). Emission Reduction Units (ERUs) from another Annex I country via emission-reduction
or emission-removal projects. The CDM enables the Non-Annex I parties (developing countries) to earn Certified Emission Reduction (CER) credits, each equivalent