LULUCF and REDD+ expert in the French climate negotiating delegation Australie, Autriche, Belgique, Tchéquie, Danemark, Finlande, France, Guyane française, Polynésie française, Terres australes françaises, Allemagne, Ghana, Guadeloupe, Islande, Indonésie, Irlande, Italie, Japon, Kenya, Lituanie, Martinique, Mayotte, Nouvelle-Calédonie

Context of the service

At the Montreal Climate Conference in 2005, the year the Kyoto Protocol entered into force and even though its first commitment period had not begun (2008-2012), the Parties to the Protocol launched a review of the Protocol (under Article 3.9). This review, which was initially intended to concern only developed countries under the Kyoto commitment, would be split into two working groups, a first ad hoc on the review of Kyoto commitments (AWG-KP) and another "informal" which concerned all Parties and would be "formalized" at the Bali Conference in 2007 under the name of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-Term Cooperation (AWG-LCA).
Organized into five main themes (shared vision, mitigation, adaptation, technology transfer and finance) and multiple sub-themes (including REDD+ and LULUCF), via the Bali Roadmap, the negotiations would intensify in order to aim for the establishment of a post-2012 climate regime. During the period 2006-2009, there will be no less than one month of UN negotiations per year (in various forums: COP, COP/MOP, SBSTA, SBI, AWG-LCA, AWG-KP), but also numerous internal preparatory meetings for each major negotiating group (European Union, Umbrella Group, G77+ China, Africa Group, etc.), technical workshops, scientific or political conferences, etc.
Finally, the Copenhagen Conference at the end of 2009 failed to put in place the post-2012 regime and the COP "took note" of the Copenhagen Accord negotiated with 28 countries. The post-2012 negotiation processes that are supposed to end at this stage will therefore be extended, until the Doha Conference at the end of 2012 establishes the principle of a 2013-2020 amendment to the Kyoto Protocol and postpones negotiations on a post-2020 global climate regime until 2015.

Services provided

As a forest/climate negotiator, the expert ensured the preparation (internally at the Ministry of Agriculture), the inter-ministerialization (with the Ministries in charge of the environment, finance and foreign affairs mainly) and the defense (at the European level, then at the international level) of French positions on three main subjects: LULUCF (taking into account forest and agricultural carbon sinks in countries under Kyoto commitments), CDM/JI (carbon project mechanisms implemented respectively in Kyoto committed countries or developing countries, applicable in part to the forest sector) and REDD+ (promotion of avoided deforestation and sustainable forest management in developing countries).
He defended these positions at the European level, during about twenty meetings of the group of European negotiators LULUCF/REDD+: in Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, France, Ireland, Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden. He also chaired this group during the French Presidency of the European Union in 2008. He defended these positions at the international level, at the level of the COPs (COP12 Nairobi 2006, COP13 Bali 2007, COP14 Poznan 2008, COP15 Copenhagen 2009), but also at the level of ad hoc working groups under the Convention or the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-LCA and AWG-KP, sessions in Bonn, Accra, Bangkok, Barcelona, Tianjin, etc.), workshops on LULUCF (Reykjavík, Dublin, Brussels, Ispra, etc.) or REDD+ (Cairns, Tokyo, Barcelona, etc.).
As France is a large forest country (23 Mha, second on the surface after Sweden at EU level) and the forest-wood sector is the place of important economic, environmental and strategic issues, the expert had to vigorously defend French positions on complex negotiations, making constructive proposals, building alliances, while knowing how to accept compromises.

Summary of the service

Preparation and defense of French positions on forestry and agriculture (AFOLU/REDD+) in all negotiations on climate change: Conference of the Parties to the Climate Convention (UNFCCC) and Kyoto Protocol, G8, Major Economies Forum (MEF), Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), UN-REDD initiative, REDD+ Partnership, etc. Chairman of the AFOLU/REDD+ group of European negotiators during the French Presidency of the European Union in 2008. Implementation of national policies and measures relating to climate change and/or forests: coordination of greenhouse gas inventories in the forestry sector (metropolitan territory and DOM/TOM, including French Guiana), support for national climate change mitigation and adaptation measures, capacity building of civil servants.