Forests must not be used to undermine climate commitments

The statement warns that non-transparent land-use accounting in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) can allow countries to meet targets while carbon pollution increases. It highlights specific examples in Russia and New Zealand and advocates for separating land-use credits from other sectors to ensure the 1.5°C target is met through essential decarbonisation.

• Lack of transparency in how Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) account for land use may allow states to appear to meet climate targets while land degrades and carbon pollution increases.
• Specific national accounting practices are cited as undermining ambition: Russia's pledge assumes maximum forest CO2 absorption, reducing incentives for other sector reductions, and New Zealand's planned forestry accounting changes could effectively erase a full year of its emissions.
• To maintain climate ambition and reach the 1.5°C target, land-use credits (negative emissions) should be kept in a separate pillar from other sectors to prevent them from cancelling the need for essential decarbonisation.

APA

Perlman, K. (2016). Forests must not be used to undermine climate commitments. Carbon Market Watch. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2016/12/01/forests-must-not-be-used-to-undermine-climate-commitments/

Chicago

Perlman, Kelsey. Forests must not be used to undermine climate commitments. Carbon Market Watch, 2016. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2016/12/01/forests-must-not-be-used-to-undermine-climate-commitments/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Perlman |first1=Kelsey |title=Forests must not be used to undermine climate commitments |publisher=Carbon Market Watch |date=1 December 2016 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2016/12/01/forests-must-not-be-used-to-undermine-climate-commitments/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{perlman2016forests, author = {Perlman, Kelsey}, title = {{Forests must not be used to undermine climate commitments}}, publisher = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2016}, month = dec, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2016/12/01/forests-must-not-be-used-to-undermine-climate-commitments/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }