Federal Department of the Environment,
Transport, Energy and Communications DETEC
Federal Office for the Environment FOEN
Forest Division
Tel.: +41 58 46 290 00
Fax: +41 58 46 270 54
[email protected]
http://www.bafu.admin.ch
Fact Sheet
Date
Tuesday, 17 March 2015
International Day of Forests (IDT) 2015, 21 March 2015
Economic valuation of forest services: climate protection
High value of forests for climate protection
Over the past two decades Switzerland’s domestic forests removed an average
of 2.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually. If the
country had not taken most of this carbon sink service into account for the
period from 2008 to 2012, it would have had to purchase millions worth of
additional CO2 emission certificates. Thus, thanks to the forest, a good part of
Switzerland’s emission reduction commitment under the Kyoto Protocol could
be fulfilled almost free of charge.
Trees remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air and convert this greenhouse gas to
biomass, half of the dry weight of which consists of carbon. As a general rule there are
around 250 kilograms of carbon stored in one cubic metre of wood and this carbon is formed
from almost 920 kg of CO2 over the course of the tree growth. According to Switzerland’s
fourth National Forest Inventory (NFI 4), over the survey period from 2009 to 2011, the total
volume of all living trees in the Swiss forest comprised 422 million cubic metres of wood,
which corresponds to 387 million tonnes of stored CO2. The increase in standing volume
since the previous NFI survey five years earlier means a corresponding increase in the
sequestered carbon dioxide. This represents the
removal of over 1 million tonnes of CO2 per year.
The overall greenhouse gas balance of the forest
is somewhat more complicated, however, as the
tree roots, deadwood, harvest residues, litter
and, above all, organic soil store a total volume
of around 50 million tonnes of CO2. When trees
die and rot or wood is burnt, the carbon enters
the atmosphere again by binding with oxygen
Photo: Markus Bolliger, FOEN
to
form CO2. Thus, depending on the age and
health of the trees and the intensity of their
harvesting, it is also entirely possible for forests to become a source of CO 2. With the
exception of a relatively short period in the aftermath of cyclone Lothar in late 1999, this was
not the case in Switzerland in recent decades.
Accounting for the carbon sink effect
Source: Jahrbuch Wald und Holz 2014
Jährlicher Netto-Senkeneffekt im Wald 1990-2012 = Annual net sink effect in the forest 1990-2012
in 1000 Tonnen CO2 = in 1000 tonnes CO2
Netto-Senkeneffekt im Wald = Net sink effect in the forest
Quelle: BAFU, Abteilung Klima = Source: FOEN, Climate Division
After 1990, most domestic forests acted as CO2 sinks: Swiss forests have stored around 2.2
million tonnes of CO2 annually since 1995. The fluctuations arising from year to year are
mainly due to variations in the rates of wood harvesting and tree mortality.
Under the Kyoto Protocol, an agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change, Switzerland undertook to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by eight
percent compared with 1990 levels over the first commitment period of 2008 to 2012. In
2006, the Federal Council also decided to include the carbon pool produced through forest
management in the accounting for the Kyoto target. Over the five years of the 2008 to 2012
Kyoto commitment period, Switzerland was able to credit an average of 1.6 million tonnes of
CO2 per year in its emissions accounting. Using the total of eight million tonnes of CO2 for the
period, it was possible to cover around one fifth of the necessary emissions reduction. Thus
the forest made a considerable contribution to achieving the target set out under the Kyoto
Protocol.
Market opportunities for voluntary measures
However, Swiss forest owners were unable to benefit for this internationally credited carbon
sink service because neither the CO2 Act nor Forest Act contain provisions for the
remuneration of this service at national level. Nevertheless, some forest owners are availing
of the possibility of increasing the sink effect through targeted silviculture measures and
selling corresponding CO2 certificates on the market for voluntary climate protection
measures. Such CO2 certificates are purchased by companies, organisations and private
individuals who wish to compensate for their green house gas emissions voluntarily in the
interest of climate protection.
The best known example of this kind of venture in Switzerland is the climate protection
project of the Schwyz Oberallmeindkorporation (OAK), one of the country’s biggest forest
owners. Since 2005, the OAK has been aiming to increase its average standing volume from
280 to 300 cubic metres per hectare through forest management measures. According to
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OAK, this objective, which it aims to attain over the next 30 years, can be achieved without
endangering other important forest functions like protective services. This means that OAK
will use an area of almost 7,400 hectares for the purpose of creating a CO2 sink. Based on
the corresponding tree growth, between 5,000 and 10,000 tonnes of CO2 will be available
annually for the sale of certificates. At a price of CHF 20 per tonne, OAK expects total
earnings of CHF 3.6 million or CHF 120,000 per year, which more than compensates for
refraining from harvesting and the costs incurred in developing the project and adapting
management practices.
Long-lasting wood products extend the carbon storage effect
The optimum conditions for CO2 sequestration cannot be attained, however, by leaving trees
to stand for longer periods in the forest. This can only be achieved through the continuous
harnessing of the wood increment and the long-lasting use of wood. The processing of
harvested wood to produce long-lasting goods, for example construction materials or
furniture, makes it possible to extend the carbon storage effect by decades. In addition, some
of the wood is used to replace energy-intensive materials like metals and concrete, the
extraction and production of which requires the extensive use of fossil fuels. Native wood
also has the advantage of requiring shorter transport routes. The carbon stored in the form of
wood products in Switzerland is currently equivalent to around 100 million tonnes of CO2,
and a good three quarters of this carbon is stored in the building stock. The CO2 balance is
optimum when wood products are recycled after decades of use and then used to generate
energy as a replacement for fossil fuels at the end of their life-cycle. Through the dual
replacement of energy-intensive building materials and fossil fuels, it is possible to save up to
1.3 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per cubic metre of wood used.
Accounting for wood products
The storage effect of wood products is now also be taken into account in the fulfilment of
climate targets; both internationally, for the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol
from 2013 to 2020, and nationally, in accordance with the revised version of the CO2 Act,
which entered into force on 1 January 2013. The CO2 Act obliges the importers of fossil fuels
to compensate for a proportion of the CO2 emissions generated by transport. To do this, they
can purchase certificates issued by the federal authorities for emission reductions within
Switzerland. Wood products qualify as climate protection projects, thus certificates can be
issued for them.
However, the precondition for the recognition of climate protection projects in the area of
harvested wood products (HWP) is that the storage effect must extend beyond the usual use
of the wood and that it would not have arisen without the additional financial input from the
sale of certificates. Moreover, the wood in question must originate in Switzerland. The
association Senke Schweizer Holz (“Swiss Wood Sink”), which was established in 2014, is
currently collaborating with interested sawmills and HWP producers to establish how the
project for the accounting of harvested wood products authorised by the federal authorities
can be implemented. The association represents the wood companies and can also
implement general projects itself. It is expected that a carbon sink service on a scale of
around 640,000 tonnes of CO2 will be certified by the FOEN between 2014 and 2019.
Depending on the revenue from the certificates, it may be possible to generate financial
returns on a scale of billions.
Internet
www.bafu.admin.ch/dokumentation/fokus/15046/15106/index.html?lang=de
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