Adaptive Governance in Carbon Farming Policies

Nooshin Torabi

• Publisher: Palgrave Pivot
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN:
  9783319974958
• eBook ISBN:
  9783319974965
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Environmental Science
• Index: Biological Sciences

This book discusses a variety of different  perspectives involved in biodiversity management and bio-sequestration projects in Australia, working towards achieving adaptive governance in carbon farming. It not only examines landholders' motivation  but also the challenges   of integrating biodiverse forests into the agricultural landscape. Drawing on the contrast between science and policy stakeholders' views on carbon farming and the practical challenges of achieving adaptive governance, the book   discusses the significant gap between theory and practice encountered in this field of study.   The book  suggests ways of improving the decision-making capacity of government officials and policymakers involved in managing carbon and biodiversity markets, as well as introducing measures to promote adaptive governance by engaging landholders in more effective land conservation. Climate change is a pressing issue on the global political agenda,and this book makes an important contribution to the ongoing debate.

This book will be an invaluable reference for practitioners, policymakers and researchers interested in alternative forms of governance in natural resource management.

© The Author(s) 2019

Nooshin TorabiAdaptive Governance in Carbon Farming Policieshttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97496-5_1

Begin Abstract

1. Introduction: Biodiverse Carbon Plantings as a Tool for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change

Nooshin Torabi¹

(1)

School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Nooshin Torabi

Email: [email protected]

Abstract

This chapter offers an extensive overview of climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. The Australian carbon farming policy as one of the means to tackle the wicked problem of climate change has been discussed in detail. This chapter also explores the role of landholders as change agents in the uptake of carbon farming policies.

Keywords

Climate changeCarbon farmingCarbon policyLandholdersMitigationAdaptation

End Abstract

Climate Change

The issue of climate change has received substantial public and scholarly attention and is now a strategic part of the global economic and ecological consideration (Capoor and Ambrosi 2008). As the human-induced change in climate continues (IPCC 2014, p. 118) (IPCC and Cambridge University Press 2007), impacts on ecosystems and society will become increasingly problematic, particularly if greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) are not halted (Wise et al. 2014). The wicked problem of climate change conveys an urgency for decision-oriented studies seeking to specify immediate mitigation and/or adaptation actions (Wise et al. 2014). Mitigation refers to those aiming to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions either at their sources or by using sinks to sequester the emissions (Cole et al. 1997). Adaptation actions are “adjustments in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects, which moderates harm or exploits beneficial opportunities” (IPCC 2011, p. 72).

Tree planting is considered an important means to pursue both mitigation and adaptation to climate change. Hence, incentives to accelerate tree planting have become an important component of climate change policy. This is because of the ability of trees to sequester carbon more than other terrestrial ecosystems (Gibbs et al. 2007). Thirty per cent of the Earth is covered by trees, and 45% of terrestrial carbon is stored in forests (NASA Earth Observatory 2012). Forests contribute to 50% of net primary production in the world (Sabine et al. 2004).

Mitigation Outlook at the Global Level

The role of market-based mechanisms to encourage GHG emissions reduction was highlighted in the Kyoto Protocol (Niesten et al. 2002). Endorsed by 182 countries, the Protocol is a legal agreement with the commitment from developed countries to reduce their GHG emissions 5.2% below 1990 levels between 2008 and 2012 (Bayon et al. 2007). The most significant outcome of this protocol to mitigate global warming is the establishment of a carbon market (Capoor and Ambrosi 2008). However, the commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol ended in 2013 and the Durban Climate Change Conference 2011 focused on finding various methods of emission reduction based on international negotiation (UNFCCC 2011). It is regarded as a “roadmap” towards a global agreement (Hill 2011). “… It enables a second commitment period to start on 1 January 2013 as part of a transition to a wider single global and comprehensive legally-binding agreement” (Council of the European Union 2012, p. 3).

The global carbon market falls into two categories: regulatory and voluntary markets. Voluntary markets focus on project-based offsets (forestry, methane destruction), whereas regulatory markets operate under the cap-and-trade and baseline and credit schemes (Bayon et al. 2007). Some examples of regulatory markets are the European Union Emission Trading Scheme, the Chicago Climate Index, the New South Wales Greenhouse Gas Reduction Scheme (GGAS) and the Alberta Offset System (Bayon et al. 2007; Brohé et al. 2009). The global carbon market was valued at US$142 billion in 2010, including a US$424 million share of the voluntary market (Peters-Stanley et al. 2011; Linacre et al. 2011). REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) projects constituted 29% of the voluntary carbon market (Peters-Stanley et al. 2011). REDD is a United Nations programme to reduce emissions from forested plots by providing incentives and valuing the carbon sequestered in trees in developing countries (FAO UNDP UNEP 2008). However, critiques of the programme demand for an improved governance system to regulate and protect forests (Adelman 2015).

Adaptation

Historically, climate mitigation had been the principal mechanism considered by researchers and policymakers to tackle climate change (Heller and Zavaleta 2009). However, climate change adaptation is gaining more attention as reliance on mitigation methods is manifestly inadequate in the face of current impacts and climate projections in the immediate future (Wise et al. 2014). Adaptation aims to reduce the climate change vulnerability (Spittlehouse and Stewart 2003). Adaptation occurs as a dynamic practice in the societies, and it could help to provide an economic improvement over cases where no adaptation takes place (Adger 2013). These actions happen at different social and institutional levels and on socio-economic and political scales.

Carbon plantings are considered to be both mitigation and adaptation strategies. The practice helps to mitigate GHGs and reduces the vulnerability of ecological and social systems to climate change (Van Noordwijk et al. 2011). However, it is important to be aware of the uncertainty involved in undertaking such plantations as climate is changing (Hulme 2005) at the same time the socio-ecological and the political contexts are (Adger et al. 2005). Actions that are taken now need to take into account climate change projections to make sure different species will survive under new climate projection scenarios (Hulme 2005). It is also essential to understand the context, management requirements and institutional and societal necessities of successful outcomes (Spittlehouse and Stewart 2003). Furthermore, various drivers for environmental degradation require thorough investigation in the socio-ecological systems (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation [CSIRO] 2003).

State of GHG Emissions in Australia

Australia is the world’s 15th highest GHG emissions polluter and contributes 1.3% of global emissions (Commonwealth of Australia 2014). There will be 421 Mt of CO₂ emissions from the current levels by 2020, and abatement to reach the current target of at least 5% reduction (of the 2000 level) will be 131 MtCO₂-e (Commonwealth of Australia 2013). As a hot and dry continent, Australia will be much affected by climate change with more frequent droughts and fire (Garnaut 2008; Buys et al. 2011). Hence, immediate actions to mitigate these impacts are necessary (Wise et al. 2014).

Biodiversity

… Most of the potential risks and surprises affecting biodiversity also present opportunities if Australians think strategically, anticipate, prepare and act. (Hatton et al. 2011, p. 39)

In Australia, biodiversity is in a parlous situation and biodiversity loss is among the most important ecological issues (Hatton et al. 2011; Vanclay and Lawrence 1995). The State of Environment Report 2011 (Hatton et al. 2011) concluded that human a...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Front Matter
• 1. Introduction: Biodiverse Carbon Plantings as a Tool for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change
• 2. Adaptive Governance
• 3. Understanding Stakeholders: Awareness of Carbon Farming Schemes
• 4. Landholders’ Sociocultural Drivers Influencing Decision-Making and Participation in Carbon Farming
• 5. Understanding Stakeholders: Post-adoption in Carbon Farming
• 6. Similarities and Differences in Stakeholders’ Voices
• 7. Conclusion
• Back Matter