RP can play key role in fight vs global warming
LOS BAÑOS, Laguna — The Philippines can play a key role in the worldwide effort to mitigate global warming.
It has vast forest lands where it can grow tree species that can sequester (absorb and store) carbon in the atmosphere.
Example is yemane (Gmelia arborea), which, under the Kyoto Protocol of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, can also provide earnings for the country when carbon sequestered in the tree’s biomass (foliage, stems, and roots) is traded.
A study done by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Ecosystem Research and Development Bureau (DENR-ERDB) showed that yemane, which is commonly used in making furniture, can help alleviate global warming.
The study team headed by ERDB deputy director Dr. Leuvina Tandug, conducted the research to provide basic information for accurate estimations of the aboveground biomass and amount of carbon being sequestered in yemane trees.
Monitored by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD), the study noted that the total green biomass of a yemane tree can reach 666.4 kilograms.
A yemane tree has an average 44.73 percent stored carbon in its dry mass.
The data gathered in the study are expected to provide valuable inputs for Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) forestry projects that would like to avail themselves of the carbon trading facility under the Kyoto Protocol.
The protocol is an amendment to the international treaty of climate change, assigning mandatory emission limitations for the reduction of greenhouse gas (GG) emission to the signatory nations.
The treaty was signed by 180 countries in
GG are gases, among them carbon dioxide, generated mainly by burning fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, and diesel. While the use of these fuels has helped industrialization enormously, it has caused steady increase in levels of carbon-rich gases and other pollutants.
Planting of trees to sequester atmospheric carbon is a key strategy and the most cost-effective long-lasting means to address the global problem of increasing amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, Dr. Tandug stressed.
Trees take up C02 from the atmosphere and store the carbon in their leaves, stems, and roots through the process of photosynthesis.
Any entity that emits C02 in the atmosphere may have an interest of may be required by law to balance its emissions through a mechanism of carbon sequestration. These businesses, including power-generating facilities or manufacturers, may decide either to reduce their emissions or buy carbon credits from accredited sellers (say, countries) to offset their C02 emissions.
Entities that manage forest or agricultural lands, on the other hand, may sell carbon credits based on the accumulation of carbon in their forest trees or agricultural soils. Similarly, business entities that reduce their carbon emission can sell their reductions to other emitters.
ERDB reported that the establishment of plantations for this kind of carbon offset would rehabilitate open and degraded areas. It will also provide long-term carbon storage while plantation owners get paid well for planting trees.
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