U.S. and Japan sink emissions reductions plans.

• Author: Larsen, Janet
• Position: "carbon sinks" loophole in 1997 Kyoto Protocol - Brief Article - Statistical Data Included

The U.S. State Department report calculated that each year the nation's forests, crops, and rangelands take in 310 million metric tons of [CO.sub.2] from the atmosphere, an amount that, if credited, could nearly halve the emissions cuts needed to reach Kyoto targets. In following suit, Japan is reversing its original stance against crediting carbon sinks, and is calling for 3.7 percent of its 6 percent reduction commitment to be met through forest absorption.

The United States and Japan released reports in August indicating they are planning to sidestep their commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. They are aiming to use a loophole in the treaty that allows countries to count "carbon sinks," such as farmlands and forests, against their carbon dioxide releases. As these countries are two of the world's top four greenhouse gas emitters, their proposals will have profound effects on the COP 6 Climate Change negotiations taking place in November at the Hague.

Based on uncertain science, the inclusion of sinks in emissions calculations makes for complicated accounting and monitoring procedures, and has been opposed by many environmental groups (see "Bogging Down in the Sinks," November/December 1998). The Protocol's vague land use clause benefits countries that recently have logged their forests and provides incentive for further deforestation before 2008, the start of the agreement's "commitment period." Countries that clear their forests will receive carbon credits as trees...