If a tree burns in Canada’s unmanaged forest, does anyone count the carbon?

By Ryan Katz-Rosene
The Conversation
December 17, 2023
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

Earlier this fall, a commentary in Nature Communications, Earth & Environment argued for a change to the implementation of the Paris Agreement’s reporting mechanisms. The authors called for all countries to report carbon emissions and removals taking place across their entire territories, not just within so-called “managed” lands (as is presently the case). However, this poses a challenge here in Canada, as there is deep uncertainty about the total carbon flux in Canada’s “unmanaged” land. I echo calls for the Government of Canada to scale up and improve its greenhouse gas (GHG) monitoring and modelling across Canada’s entire territory, and to report these findings in a much more open and transparent manner as part of its annual National GHG Inventory. …It is essential that the Government of Canada enhance its current efforts in land-based carbon flux analysis, and report to the public in a more clear and transparent way.

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