Tree farms won't halt climate change - 28 October 2002 - New Scientist - The Diigo Meta page

• 06 Oct 07
  

  connin

  • he Kyoto Protocol to halt climate change is based on a scientific fallacy, according to the first results of CarboEurope, a Europe-wide programme that has pioneered research into the carbon budget.

                       

    The protocol says that countries can help meet their targets for cutting emissions of greenhouse gases over the next decade by planting forests to soak up carbon dioxide. But the soil in these "Kyoto forests" will actually release more carbon than the growing trees absorb in the first 10 years, the new research shows.

  • "Countries will be able to claim carbon credits for the forests. But that won't reflect what is happening in the atmosphere," says Riccardo Valentini of the University of Tuscia in Viterbo, Italy. He presented the CarboEurope data last week in Valencia, Spain.

                       

    The project's revelations could embarrass governments now meeting in New Delhi to discuss implementation of the Kyoto Protocol. Earlier in October, Italy announced plans to achieve between 10 and 40 per cent of its emission reductions target for 2012 through forest planting. But now its own scientists are warning that these sinks might not work.

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