Assessment of the Contribution of Russian Forests to Climate Change Mitigation

Abstract

Recent inclusion of the issue of economy decarbonization in the global agenda has been affecting social and political priorities. To lower greenhouse gas emissions, Russian economy has to reduce anthropogenic emissions and maximise the carbon sequestration potential of national forests. The paper demonstrates that Russian forest ecosystems compensate for more than a quarter (almost 27 %) of anthropogenic emissions. However, due to the absence of a reliable, time-tested forest inventory system in Russia, as opposed to leading countries, it is difficult to ensure the sustainable use of forest resources and full accounting of greenhouse gas absorption by forests. The research analyses systemic measures to improve the absorptive capacity of Russian forests as a key element of the mechanism for compensating industrial greenhouse gas emissions, since the global expert community should recognise the contribution of these forests to the global climate change mitigation. Potential economic benefits of increasing the carbon-absorbing capacity of forests are assessed at the regional level. The example of Irkutsk oblast shows that the calculated effect of the analysed measures can amount to 6–7 dollars/ha at the current price of carbon credits; full implementation of these measures in the region can bring up to 480 million US dollars annually, net of expenses. The research proposes to ensure the necessary quality and completeness of data of the State Forest Registry by integrating remote and ground-based field measurements. It is also suggested to enhance institutional and investment support to state forest conservation initiatives, including in the framework of the National Project “Ecology” and forest-climate projects based on public-private partnerships. These measures should be included in the reform of public policy in the field of forest management.

Spatial differentiation of forests in the Russian Federation based on the author's algorithm for assessing the level of adaptation to climate change

“…Введение В течение последних десятилетий климатические изменения стали одной из наиболее серьезных проблем, с которыми приходится справляться мировому сообществу [1]. Леса России выполняют колоссальную климаторегулирующую функцию, являясь одним из крупнейших мировых депо углерода [2,3]. Между тем, лесные экосистемы подвержены воздействию меняющихся факторов окружающей среды, что обуславливает необходимость изучения взаимодействия леса и климата [4,5].…”

Efficiency Evaluation of Forest Carbon Sinks: A Case Study of Russia

“…Since reporting is formed independently by countries and takes into account national characteristics, the evaluation results in Russia differ significantly both methodologically and from the point of view of the quality and completeness of the data used [10]. The IPCC methodology consists of different hierarchical tiers (Tiers 1, 2, 3) [11].…”

“…Estimates of changes in carbon sequestration potential of Russia's forests in the long-term perspective (% for the projection period). Adapted from Vaganov et al [10]. In general, the experts [12] point out that the currently applied ROBUL method is satisfactory for the estimation of carbon stocks and fluxes in managed forests of Russia.…”

Wildfire Intensity and Fire Emissions in Siberia

“…At the same time, it is noted that the increasing emission trend can be also caused by an increase in the intensity of fires under a more warm and arid climate in the region. Modern estimates show a wide variability in the annual carbon sink for different forest types in Siberia ranging from 200 to 700 Tg C/year [2,14,15]. A further increase in average annual emissions from fires may be a primary reason for the transition of Siberian taiga forests from carbon sink to carbon source [3,5].…”