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Boosting transparency of forest data for climate action










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    Booklet
    Technological innovation driving transparent forest monitoring and reporting for climate action 2024
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    This paper reviews how countries are benefiting from technical innovations in their monitoring and reporting of forest-related emissions and removals to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).Forests play an important role in climate action. They are often mentioned in nationally determined contributions (NDCs) with targets conditional on international climate finance. Despite countries reporting forest-related emission reductions (ERs) of 14.0 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) to the UNFCCC, results-based finance for ERs has been limited. Nonetheless, more robust estimation methods have increasingly enabled accessing new sources of climate finance, including from the private sector. As such, technological solutions and capacity development for ER reporting can act as an engine that enables better resource management and improved access to climate finance.There has been enormous technological progress over the last decade, allowing increasingly robust forest dynamic assessments. Recent UNFCCC reference level submissions reveal an increased use of satellite imagery with higher spatial and temporal resolution: initial submissions relied entirely on Landsat imagery; after 2022, 100 percent used Sentinel and 50 percent used Planet imagery. Open source solutions are widely used by countries: 89 percent of countries reporting a reference level to the UNFCCC have used Open Foris, a set of free and open source solutions and platforms developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for accessing and analysing data. Improvements in forest monitoring are crucial to better understand forests’ contribution to climate change mitigation and unlock climate finance.
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    FAO Framework Methodology for Climate Change Vulnerability Assessments of Forests and Forest Dependent People
    A framework methodology
    2019
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    Negative impacts of climate change on forests threaten the delivery of crucial wood and non-wood goods and environmental services on which an estimated 1.6 billion people fully or partly depend. Assessment of the vulnerability of forests and forest-dependent people to climate change is a necessary first step for identifying the risks and the most vulnerable areas and people, and for developing measures for adaptation and targeting them for specific contexts. This publication provides practical technical guidance for forest vulnerability assessment in the context of climate change. It describes the elements that should be considered for different time horizons and outlines a structured approach for conducting these assessments. The framework will guide practitioners in conducting a step-by-step analysis and will facilitate the choice and use of appropriate tools and methods. Background information is provided separately in text boxes, to assist readers with differing amounts of experience in forestry, climate change and assessment practices. The publication will provide useful support to any vulnerability assessment with a forest- and tree-related component.
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    Document
    Forest Monitoring and Assessment for Climate Change Reporting: Partnerships, Capacity Building and Delivery 2007
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    This working paper was prepared in light of the upcoming Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC in December 2007 to inform about the status and ongoing efforts in the field of forest monitoring, assessment and reporting at national and international levels. Part I is a review of partnerships between FAO and countries for building capacity and supporting implementation of forest monitoring, assessment and reporting, to meet requirements at national and international levels. At national level, FA O works with countries to establish long-term and robust monitoring systems, based on systematic field sampling and data collection. At international level, FAO supports countries to report to the Global Forest Resources Assessments, which is the leading global reporting process on forests, their management and use. Part II presents basic requirements for national forest monitoring systems, seen from a broader policy context. It reviews the current status in countries with respect to two variabl es that are important for climate change reporting – forest area changes and forest carbon stock. It is concluded that in most developing countries the quality of current forest monitoring would not be satisfactory for an accounting system of carbon credits. However, it is also suggested that investment in national forest monitoring is attracting greater interest, as exemplified by the increasing number of countries requesting support from FAO. FAO continues to work in close collaboration with i ts member countries to improve forest monitoring, assessment and reporting, including helping them to meet requirements for forest carbon reporting.

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