Integrating national forestry initiatives in India with international climate change policy

Policy initiatives in India, such as the Social Forestry Program and later the Joint Forest Management, were introduced for their co-benefits, including forest protection, employment opportunities, and added income for communities living in and around the forests. The evolution of these forest policies is critically reviewed. It is argued that India is perfectly positioned to benefit from climate change mitigation efforts, due to a rich, albeit chequered, history in forest management. National forestry policies are examined to assess how they can complement international climate change mitigation instruments, such as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and the more recent Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD or REDD+ with conservation, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks) and aid national sustainable development objectives. There is a need to heed the experiences from India's evolving forest policies, particularly those concerning land tenure and resource rights, which lack specificity within international mechanisms. The active engagement of rural communities must be integral to any programmes that make any claim to development and to environmental integrity as a whole.

Policy relevance

India's forestry programmes are examined for their effectiveness in informing international initiatives such as the CDM and REDD+. Forestry policies in India can evolve to complement international climate mitigation tools. By examining current and historical forest legislation, and their subsequent impacts, it is shown how communities can sustain their system of forest management and retain/obtain rights to land and resources under the CDM and REDD+. Looking for such synergies within existing national policies to implement newer international initiatives can greatly facilitate and increase the momentum of global environmental change.     

Finding a path for REDD+ between ODA and the CDM

Abstract

Strategies to mitigate anthropogenic climate change recognize that carbon sequestration in the terrestrial biosphere can reduce the build-up of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere. However, climate mitigation policies do not generally incorporate the effects of these changes in the land surface on the surface albedo, the fluxes of sensible and latent heat to the atmosphere, and the distribution of energy within the climate system. Changes in these components of the surface energy budget can affect the local, regional, and global climate. Given the goal of mitigating climate change, it is important to consider all of the effects of changes in terrestrial vegetation and to work toward a better understanding of the full climate system. Acknowledging the importance of land surface change as a component of climate change makes it more challenging to create a system of credits and debits wherein emission or sequestration of carbon in the biosphere is equated with emission of carbon from fossil fuels. Recognition of the complexity of human-caused changes in climate does not, however, weaken the importance of actions that would seek to minimize our disturbance of the Earth's environmental system and that would reduce societal and ecological vulnerability to environmental change and variability.

© 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.     

快速城镇化背景下区域水资源可持续利用研究——以咸阳市为例

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我国水环境问题有:水资源短缺与浪费、污染现象并存;生态退化,洪涝灾害频发;水资源管理体制不够完善,水环境建设缺乏系统规划;产业结构布局与水资源条件不相适应.面对这些问题,大家开始重新认识人水关系,强调人水和谐相处,强调水环境的可持续发展.对此提出如下对策:增强公民水意识,创建节水型社会;优化产业结构布局,实现水资源优化...     

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近年来随着国家能源基地和矿产资源加工基地的建设,资源开发利用成为推动天山北坡经济带以及乌昌地区建设的重要支撑.围绕资源规模与供给力、资源开发对经济发展的支撑力、人类对资源的改造利用能力,结合乌昌地区发展的实际,以水资源、能源矿产资源为切入点,构建基于资源开发利用的可持续发展框架和指标评价体系,通过因子分析对可持续发展能...     

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喀斯特地区土地利用变化研究——以贵州省为例

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国外典型矿业城市空间可持续发展的借鉴与启示

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