Batemans Marine Park

Biodiversity Summit 2009: Biodiversity for Climate Protection
Saturday 8 August in Canberra.
Organised by Lawyers for Forests and the Green Institute

Summary by Sheila Monahan

Around 90 people, from overseas and around Australia, attended this extremely successful summit. A wide range of expertise and experience was shared throughout the day.

The main theme was nature as a climate solution, not a casualty.

Short Presentations

the global carbon cycle - Professor Brendan Mackey
deforestation and climate - Dr Rachel Warren
counting carbon - Dr Heather Keith
carbon accounting system - Margaret Blakers
the EPBC Act and its independent review - Andrew Walker
MRET, biomass and the CPRS - Vanessa Bleyer
deforestation, degradation and climate policy - Virginia Young

Main points from the day:

a) Reducing carbon dioxide emissions:

we need urgent action to reduce carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere
reducing emissions from fossil fuels alone will not achieve the target of keeping the maximum global temperature rise to 2C
we must also reduce emissions from depletion of our terrestrial ecosystems
terrestrial ecosystems are major carbon storers and cannot be ignored
forests are a major carbon sink, especially Australian native forests
politicians around the world are hearing this message but none are expressing interest in acting upon it
Copenhagen will only deal with REDD for tropical forests in developing countries
the role of Australian native forests in reducing emissions has been put on hold by our governments. It is yet to be worked through
we should not rely on a cap and trade scheme to protect and restore our terrestrial ecosystems
payments should be made or ecosystem services and land stewardship

b) The Australian carbon accounting system:

we need a lot more attention to the way carbon accounting is done in Australia and internationally
the system needs to be more accurate
the amount of carbon already stored in our native forests and their potential to continue to store carbon are being underestimated
we must separate biocarbon from fossil carbon in the accounts
biocarbon has two strands:
- green carbon – in natural ecosystems where photosynthesis provides a permanent store if ecosystems are left undisturbed
- production carbon - in agriculture crops where the store is temporary
the Australian Bureau of Statistics should compile accurate carbon accounts

c) The legislative framework

EPBC Act

EPBC is the key legislation for biodiversity
forests are the key habitat for Australian biodiversity
major problem is that forests are excluded from protection under the EPBC Act because RFAs are given an exemption
it has been shown that RFAs are not ensuring protection of listed threatened species and are therefore not protecting biodiversity
an independent review of the Act has stopped short of recommending removal of the RFA exemption even though it was decided that
- it is not possible to judge the outcomes of the RFAs and whether they are effective
- compliance and enforcement is difficult
- there is no provision for adaptive management

MRET:

native forests can be burned to produce electricity
burning of native forest waste is considered to be renewable energy source
energy production is not part of the EPBC Act
there is some legal recourse eg the regulator is able to prosecute fraudulent generators and a judicial review could be requested

CPRS

Gives carbon credits for planting trees but there is no liability for logging forests
Burning of native forest waste for electricity production can also be rewarded by a grant of carbon credits

Agreed solutions:

Act now with natural ecosystems
Protect primary forests
Restore disturbed forests
Concentrate on forest management for carbon storage
Use an accurate carbon accounting system
Develop a complementary (to the CPRS) measures regime to deal with ecological restoration which should include:

Transitioning out of logging native forests
Protection of areas for carbon storage and emissions reduction
Restoration of cool season burning after the wet for northern savannahs
Cessation of tree clearing on private and leasehold land
Restoration of degraded ecological systems

Message for community and decision makers

Make people understand that destroying nature (logging forests and clearing bush) is an important part of the problem of climate change along with use of fossil fuels
We can achieve immediate and significant cuts in emissions through protecting nature, including our forests and woodlands, and restoring our natural ecosystems
This would give big industrial polluters time to adjust to a carbon neutral future
The SAFEST carbon store is in a living ecosystem
If we don’t act NOW it will be too late for future generations to do anything
Protect ecosystems using methods other than carbon trading
We should carry out the same actions in Australia that we are prescribing for developing countries