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We conducted research on the impact of land-use change that has resulted in international action to improve forest management. Our research demonstrated that clearing forests to grow crops for biofuels leads to large carbon emissions. In light of these findings, the UK Government amended its biofuel policy to include mandatory sustainability criteria. Leeds researchers co-established with a number of businesses the charity United Bank of Carbon, resulting in the investment of £1.5 million and the protection of 200,000 hectares of forest. Our research underpinned a forest-based climate mitigation scheme resulting in the investment of an additional £440k in forest protection.
Research at the University of Exeter on the links between the Amazon rainforest and climate change has influenced international climate policy, has directly assisted Brazilian environmental policymakers, and has received international media coverage. The underpinning research spans the vulnerability of the rainforest to anthropogenic climate change and the mechanisms behind the Amazonian droughts of 2005 and 2010. Impact has been achieved by stimulating public debate through the media, by contribution to science-into-policy documents produced by the World Bank and for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and by direct face-to-face interaction with UK and Brazilian policymakers.
Impacts: I) Development of carbon credit certification schemes, including the expansion by the Gold Standard Foundation into land-use and forestry and the creation of the Natural Forest Standard by Ecometrica Ltd (both in 2012). II) Enhanced cross-sector collaboration for the quantification of forest-loss risks and implications for financing risks, through the 2011 creation of a Forest Finance Risk Network (FFRN).
Significance and reach: The Gold Standard Foundation represents nine forestry projects worldwide (benefiting >8,500 people) and over 1.8million ha. of Brazilian land is managed through two Natural Forest Standard projects. The FFRN connects 80 member organizations globally.
Underpinned by: Research into carbon emissions associated with forest-loss, undertaken at the University of Edinburgh (2005 onwards).
Impacts: I) Economic benefits derived from carbon credit and land-use schemes in sub-Saharan Africa. II) Multi-national developments in public-policy related to Reducing Emissions for Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD). III) Recommendation for launch by the European Space Agency (March 2013) of the first ever forest-specific monitoring mission.
Significance and reach: Public policy developments have occurred over the period 2011 - June 2013 in Malawi, Mozambique and Gabon. Increases of more than 20% in the level of rural employment pre and post 2008 have been documented for one project in Mozambique.
Underpinned by: Research into quantifying tropical forest biomass stocks and their degradation, undertaken at the University of Edinburgh (2004 onwards).
The UN Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) programme offers developing countries incentives to reduce carbon emissions from forested lands. Work on carbon storage and sequestration led by researchers in the Department of Zoology has had demonstrable impacts on international development, via the REDD+ programme and two associated UN Conventions; Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Biodiversity (UN CBD), and on national level policy development in Tanzania and Brazil. It has improved the quality of data collection and monitoring necessary for successful implementation of REDD+, and has led to international investment. The work has also had direct impacts in a number of developing countries, through capacity building, employment generation, and enabling local communities to better adapt to climate change.
In the REF impact period, our research on carbon-rich tropical peat swamp forests in Indonesia has been used to:
Dr Luiz Aragão in Geography at Exeter has, since 2008, led research focused on quantifying the impacts of environmental change on fire risk and carbon dynamics in Amazonian forests. This has had a number of impacts. First, research into drought frequency and intensity and fire occurrence has directly informed the design and implementation of environmental policy and regulation in relation to a `zero fire' policy by the State of Acre in Brazil. Second, the research has led to the development of new monitoring tools to assist policy makers in understanding the interactions between climate, ecosystems, and human health in Amazonia. Third, research into carbon emissions has influenced methodological development within the United Nations REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries) programme in Colombia. Finally, Dr Aragão's research has been widely disseminated in media outlets, thus increasing awareness of the general public and policy makers on drought and fire issues in Amazonia.
International and national political negotiations and public debates about climate change mitigation policies can only progress with accurate and timely updates about the global carbon budget. Annual carbon updates have been supplied over many years, as a result of our work. The "Global Carbon Project" (GCP) has become the definitive source on carbon budgets for political and policy processes dealing with climate change mitigation and the GCP draws heavily on the School's work on the ocean carbon cycle, including ocean iron fertilisation, and its relevance to the contemporary global carbon budget. This is evidenced by its citation and influence on national (e.g. UK, Germany, Australia, USA, Sweden and Canada) and international (e.g. UN Framework Convention on Climate Change) deliberations.
The Scottish Government is aiming to generate all of its electricity through renewable energy sources by 2020. Research by the University of Aberdeen has produced a freely available tool - the Windfarm Carbon Calculator - that has overhauled the planning process for windfarm developments in Scotland. In changing public policy and planning regulations, and informing the public debate, Aberdeen's calculator is helping the Government fulfil its pledge to become "the green energy powerhouse of Europe" while protecting some of the country's most environmentally fragile areas. It continues to guide the actions of politicians, planners, the wind industry, NGOs and community groups.
The claimed impact therefore is on: the environment, economy and commerce, public policies and services, practitioners and services.
Carbon dioxide sequestration is the process by which pressured CO2 is injected into a storage space within the Earth rather than released into the atmosphere. It is one of the major ways that carbon dioxide emissions can be controlled.
Research since 2004 by applied mathematicians at the University of Cambridge into the many different effects that might be encountered during this process has had considerable impact on government and industry groups in determining how the field is viewed and how it should and might be industrially developed. The work played a major role in the CO2CRC conferences and was subsequently reported to the Australian Government by the CO2CRC chair and organisers.