NRDC team visiting a reforestation project in Northern China @Zeng Nan 

Ecosystem Carbon Dioxide Removals (Eco-CDR) garnered wide attention at COP28. As a key approach of Eco-CDR, forest carbon sequestration is expected to play a more important role with the restart of the Chinese Certified Emission Reduction (CCER). 

To brief the professional audience and streamline efforts on promoting forest carbon sequestration, on December 29, NRDC organized a workshop with partners on Post COP28 Forest Carbon Sequestration in China. Scientists and experts from CCER administration, carbon offset project development and validation agencies, and NGOs discussed key issues such as forest carbon sequestration in global climate governance, high-quality forest carbon offsets, biodiversity and climate synergy, market mechanisms, and green finance.  More than 200 audience members joined the workshop online or in-person. 

Leading Chinese forest scientist Liu Shirong emphasized the importance of protecting the carbon-rich primary forest, to halt deforestation and to improve the quality of the forest by planting native species and using science-based management approach to maximize forest carbon potential with biodiversity and community co-benefits. 

NRDC China Conservation Project Director Lisa Hua highlighted the fact the COP28 agreement called for a linkage between the climate and biodiversity efforts. NRDC worked with a Chinese think tank to analyze 200 relevant policy documents released in the last decade and found that less than half of these policies emphasize the synergy between climate and biodiversity. Hua suggested that policy coordination should be strengthened in addressing climate and biodiversity.