Other reports in this collection 2.3.3. This section describes the range of factors that can affect terrestrial carbon stocks. Section 2.3.4 discusses a range of options for addressing these factors in the accounting system. Natural versus Human-Induced Terrestrial ecosystems are dynamic.
Carbon stocks change over the full range of time and space scales, for many different reasons.
Yet identifying the reason for a change in carbon stocks may be crucial to determining whether it should be included in the Kyoto accounting system, for two reasons. Second, policymakers may decide that stock changes from certain causes should not be credited or debited because doing so would be at odds with the underlying objectives of the Kyoto Protocol. ARD activities under Article 3.3 and activities that might be added to the Kyoto Protocol under Article 3.4 must be human-induced. The significance of this limitation can be understood by considering changes in carbon stocks at the global scale that are presumably not a result of human activity. To the extent that this cycle is balanced on an annual basis between carbon uptake and release, there is no impact on average atmospheric GHG concentrations, and there would be no net change in carbon stocks observed during a 5-year commitment period.