Forests, agriculture, mountains and land use in the new climate regime: Forests and climate change

Better management of agricultural lands, forests, and tree resources is an effective response to many of the challenges of climate change. Actions in both the agriculture and forestry sectors can contribute to reducing emissions, and to enhancing resilience and reducing vulnerability of rural populations around the world. Land-use change for agriculture, including tropical deforestation, is a significant source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and an active contributor to climate change. Agricultural systems that replace forests are sources of persistent emissions. The contribution of forests to carbon sequestration and mitigation of emissions is recognized in the international negotiations on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+), related national strategy initiatives, and the many landscape-scale pilot projects under way around the world. A specific mechanism to support reduction of agricultural emissions and emissions from other land uses has not yet been developed, which prevents the creation of international incentives for countries who wish to rely on agricultural emissions reductions as a part of their contributions to global GHG emissions reductions.