Tropical wetland countries refine forest reference emission levels (FREL)

At the latest United Nations Climate Change conference (COP27), held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, many countries stepped up to increase their targets for greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction – otherwise known as their nationally-determined contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement on climate change. Indonesia, for instance, committed before the conference to a 31.89 percent reduction from baseline levels on its own (up from a previous commitment of 29 percent), and by 43.20 percent if it receives international support (up from a previous 41%).

For developing countries who are part of the UN’s REDD+ scheme (to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and foster conservation, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks), establishing baseline forest reference emission levels (FREL) is essential obligation to track progress towards reducing GHG emissions. FREL covers emissions from deforestation and – in some countries – from forest degradation and peat decomposition. In countries like Indonesia, Peru, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and the Republic of Congo (RoC), that have large amounts of standing forest – and which can contribute significantly to a country’s emissions due to land-use change – these reference levels are particularly critical.

But such reference levels are also difficult to ascertain, particularly for wetland ecosystems such as peatlands and mangroves – which hold disproportionately large amounts of carbon, but for which there is less reliable research and knowledge available than for other tropical forests. This means a number of meaningful sources and sinks of emissions have historically been under-represented in early FREL for many wetland-rich tropical countries.