Standardization of REDD Monitoring Technology to Level the Playing Field

AuthorBeth Zgoda
PositionJ.D. candidate, May 2010, at American University Washington College of Law
Pages16-16
16WINTER 2010
To meet the goals of the United Nations Framework Conven-
tion on Climate Change (“UNFCCC”), the nations of the
world must address the approximately seventeen percent
of global greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation.1 Reduc-
ing emissions from deforestation and degradation (“REDD”) will
require transparent accountability for national mitigation action
and effective technology sharing.2 Remote-sensing technolo-
gies—primarily utilizing satellite imagery—are an effective means
of monitoring and verifying REDD.3 Although many developing
countries currently lack the capacity to make use of remote-sensing
technology,4 the technology is readily available to governments
and non-governmental organizations through software programs
that analyze publicly-available data sets produced by existing satel-
lites.5 With this in mind, the REDD Web Platform of the UNFCCC
website already provides links to information about remote sensing,
including, among other things, technical assistance for data collec-
tion and training.6 The UNFCCC Parties must further encourage
the use of effective remote-sensing monitoring of REDD in two
ways. First, they must reach out to all developing country parties
to ensure that they receive capacity-building training and funding.
Second, they must develop uniform standards for data collection
and processing so that the software programs under development
can produce results easily comparable to each other.
Many developing nations lack the technical capacity and skills
to make use of available technologies.7 Currently, the UNFCCC
has a Regional Capacity Building Project for Sustainable National
Greenhouse Gas Inventory Management Systems in Southeast Asia
(“SEA GHG Project”).8 The SEA GHG Project is focused on build-
ing capacity within eight Southeast Asia countries by strengthening
their institutional and technical capacity to monitor national GHG
data, including training on software that incorporates remote-sen-
sory imaging into its data analysis.9 This project is scheduled for
completion in September of 2010.10
The UNFCCC REDD Web Platform states that a replication of
the SEA GHG Project is scheduled for 2010 in Africa.11 The SEA
GHG Project should coordinate with the Australian government’s
National Carbon Accounting System, which is already supporting
capacity building for monitoring in several developing countries,
including in Kenya, Tanzania, Guyana, and Cambodia.12 In addi-
tion, the SEA GHG Project should be replicated in South and Cen-
tral America. Efforts in South America should also incorporate the
Brazilian government’s experience, as Brazil has already developed
its remote-sensing technological skills and made its datasets pub-
licly available.13
The Copenhagen Accord recognizes the need for a mechanism
to provide f‌inancing from developed to developing countries for
REDD.14 Any REDD-f‌inancing mechanism should invest in hiring
StanDaRDiZation of ReDD monitoRing
technology to level the playing fielD
by Beth Zgoda*
* Beth Zgoda is a J.D. candidate, May 2010, at American University Washing-
ton College of Law.
teams within each country, or within partnerships of countries, pro-
viding them with the available technology and training. Much of
the technology, including data sets from satellites and programs to
process the information, is available free or at low cost; many of the
programs can run on a standard desktop computer.15 The funding
would primarily go to salaries and training. As the teams for moni-
toring remotely would be smaller than teams needed for on-the-
ground monitoring, remote-sensing will not only increase accuracy
but decrease costs for monitoring REDD progress in developing
countries.
One way for developing countries to fund ongoing monitoring
programs is to allow the sale or trade of their carbon credits on a
worldwide carbon market. For such a market to function properly,
the carbon credits must be based on uniform standards of measure-
ment.16 Several different countries and organizations are developing
software for monitoring REDD from satellite data.17 Unfortunately,
there are no uniform standards for the data produced by the satel-
lites and for the output and input of the REDD-monitoring software
programs,18 which will hamper any capacity-building efforts by
reducing the ability to trade REDD credits. Without uniform stan-
dards, each satellite dataset and software program may lead to dif-
ferent results for the same area. The lack of standardization both of
data and of software processing may allow countries with greater
capacity and additional dedicated funding to shop around for the
program and satellite that show better results for them, and the less
developed countries will not have that option to game the system.
The UNFCCC needs to develop uniform standards that software
program developers can incorporate into their designs and REDD
f‌inancing must include funding for a team of researchers to develop
and issue guidelines for what factors and standards the software
programmers should use.
Monitoring of REDD can be achieved with currently avail-
able technologies if the UNFCCC community is willing to build
the capacity necessary to utilize those technologies. Building capac-
ity requires direct investment in all developing forest nations. To
build capacity adequately, there must be uniformity of data and data
processing so that each country is trained to use systems that reach
compatible and interchangeable results. If REDD is to be used as a
means of trading within the carbon market, the means of measuring
results must be interchangeable to ensure tradable results.
Endnotes: Standardization of REDD Monitoring Technology
to Level the Playing Field continued on page 57

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