4 March 2009 |
Outlook 2009 – DAY 2 |
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| Forests: a key factor reducing carbon pollution |
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| The forest industry can potentially provide significant carbon sequestration opportunities for Australia, delegates at Outlook 2009 heard today. ABARE’s Climate Change and Environment Branch Manager, Dr Helal Ahammad, talked about the expected economic prospects of afforestation under the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS). “Carbon accounting rules, market expectations and biodiversity constraints are key factors influencing the future economic behaviour of forestry activity in Australia,” Dr Ahammad said. Dr Nick O’Brien from New Forests provided an overview of the opportunities for the Australian forestry industry, with particular emphasis on the CPRS. He said the opportunities included the sale of emission permits and the long term storage of carbon. “Forestry is an important part of the CPRS, but significant barriers exist to achieving the upper end model estimates published in reports focussing on this issue,” Dr O’Brien said. He said the barriers included operational, workforce, processing capacity, and most importantly, encouraging sufficient investment. Fellow at the Economics Division of the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies at the Australian National University, Dr Budy Resosudarmo, outlined the nature of deforestation in Indonesia. Dr Resosudarmo said there was a possible opportunity for reducing the observed high rates of deforestation in Indonesia. “Deforestation is a serious issue in Indonesia,” Dr Resosudarmo. “However, there are opportunities for improvement through the new REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) program.” Dr Resosudarmo said the major difficulties for Indonesia in reducing the high rates of deforestation included institutional issues such as unclear land tenure rights and poor coordination between the central and regional governments, and between governments and local communities. |
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Session – Forestry: a carbon locker? For media interviews and comment, please contact ABARE’s climate change and environment branch manager, Dr Helal Ahammad, 6272 2366, or 0409 070 572. For general media enquiries, contact Maree Finnegan, Media Coordinator on 02 6272 2260, mobile 0417 689 567 or email mfinnegan@abare.gov.au |
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