The Pacific Forest Trust

California’s Climate Charge:
State Makes Lowered GHG Emissions Law,
Looks to Forests for Climate Benefits

In September 2006, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed landmark legislation into law making California the first U.S. state to require serious greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions. Assembly Bill (AB) 32 sets the state on the path to reduce emissions to 1990 levels – an estimated 25 percent reduction – by 2020.

AB 32 directs the Air Resources Board (ARB) to identify major emissions sectors for mandatory reductions and to develop an emissions “cap” system. The main sectors to be regulated will likely be oil refining, oil and gas extraction, electric power generation, cement manufacturing and landfills. Other sectors are not initially expected to be subject to the cap, but will likely be encouraged to participate by providing voluntary reductions.

For forests, voluntary emissions reductions may include those from forest conservation, management and reforestation. As recognized in the state’s Climate Action Report, managed forests could contribute 20 percent or more of the reductions needed to achieve climate stability as they provide the most immediately expandable, longest-term atmospheric CO2 “sink” – a natural system that absorbs CO2 and stores it as carbon.

A key legislative directive states emissions reductions must be real, permanent, quantifiable, verifiable and enforceable by the ARB. The CCAR’s Forest Protocols are just that – reductions made permanent through legally enforceable conservation easements. Reductions are based on forest conservation and management activities beyond those already required by law. Rigorous, objective accounting standards are used to quantify reductions, which in turn are subject to third-party verification.

Governor Schwarzenegger has also signed Senate Bill 1686 into law. The bill, which was developed by PFT, authorizes the Wildlife Conservation Board to consider a proposed forestland project’s ability to reduce or sequester greenhouse gas emissions when it prioritizes use of funds and to use the CCAR protocols as the basis for determining that potential.

Forest Carbon Rising:
California’s Managed Forests Aid
Fight Against Global Warming

In April 2006, Governor Schwarzenegger announced that California’s working forests offer great opportunities for immediate action to protect our cool green planet against the impacts of global warming. According to the state’s Climate Action Plan – which also has the support of the state legislature – managed forests have the potential to provide no less than 18% of the emissions reductions needed by the state to achieve its goal of reducing net carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. This is the second largest contribution of all economic sectors. Only the transportation sector can reduce emissions more.

Recognizing that forest loss is itself a major emissions sector, California is promoting the importance and effectiveness of conserving, restoring and stewarding its working forests as a central means to reduce CO2 emissions. By introducing the first comprehensive program anywhere to harness the immense climate benefits of well-managed working forests, the state expects to reduce more than 36 million tons of CO2 emissions through forest carbon sequestration toward meeting the state’s 2020 goal of 200 million tons of emission reductions.

The Pacific Forest Trust worked closely with CalEPA and the Department of Forestry to develop
this forest element of the Climate Action Report. The state’s new strategy incorporates the groundbreaking system developed for the California Climate Action Registry (CCAR) through a process led by PFT.

Inclusion of the climate benefits of forests as a major element in California’s plan marks a threshold in PFT’s work to gain broad recognition of this essential service provided by forests. California’s plan also reflects important progress in PFT’s efforts to create a new financial incentive for landowners to keep their forests as forests, benefiting the public.

With the global carbon market topping $10 billion last year alone (exceeding sales of U.S. wheat sales by $3 billion), California’s actions signal the likely growth of a significant new source of revenue for sustaining private forests and their many public benefits in the face of rising development pressures. Indeed, earlier this year Pacific Gas and Electric Company announced a pioneering $20 million program to enable its ratepayers to go ”household climate neutral” through forest conservation projects registered under the CCAR.