Session 1: Deep Decarbonization and the Role of Agriculture, Forestry, and Land Use (AFOLU)
September 28, 2021, 12:00 - 2:00 pm EST
Watch the recording here. Access Passcode: 10FA2021
Session Chairs: Sara Ohrel (US Environmental Protection Agency), Tony Lemprière (Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada)
Session 2: State-of-the-Art Assessment of Mitigation Potential from Forestry and Agriculture
October 19, 2021, 12:00 – 2:00 pm EST
Watch the recording here. Access Passcode: E+t.7f
Objective:What role can forests and agricultural lands play in land-sector mitigation and net zero targets? Forest and agricultural models are under continuous development to reflect the latest data and science. In this session, we will examine recent assessment and modeling of pathways for mitigating GHG emissions from land-using sectors that assesses the potential contribution of these sectors to GHG mitigation for the U.S., Canada, and at the global level.
Session 3: The Implementation of Offset Markets for GHG Mitigation
November 9, 2021, 12:00 – 2:00 pm EST
Watch the recording here. Access Passcode: 10FA2021
Objective: This session seeks to evaluate issues related to current offset markets and/or implementation strategies. Following an overview, we have a panel with four speakers that represent: a) agricultural commodities, b) Native American landowners, c) small-scale foresters, and d) corporate offset purchasers.
Session 4: Modeling to Inform Policy: Research Needs and Recent Advances
November 30, 2021, 12:00 – 2:00 pm EST
Watch the recording here. Access Passcode: 10FA2021
Objective: The ability of models to inform policy is directly tied to their ability to represent the various options, constraints, and trade-offs that lie at the heart of current policy deliberations. This session will feature talks highlighting the continuing top-down challenges associated with representing forestry and agriculture in Integrated Assessment Models informing climate policy at the highest levels, while detailing several improvements that are helping to better represent distributional impacts and the interrelationship between climate change and mitigation opportunities from the bottom-up. The session will close with a look to the future, recapping what we’ve heard across the previous sessions and teeing-up the issues to be discussed at the next Forum.
The Forum's purpose is to bring together leading researchers from around the world for dialogue and collaboration around biophysical and economic modeling and empirical analysis of greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation, carbon sequestration, resilience, and bioenergy potential in the agriculture and forestry sectors.
The Forum provides an important and unique venue for bringing together agriculture and forestry modelers from U.S. and Canadian government agencies, universities, and research institutions to share ideas and foster collaboration. There is a high level of market integration between these countries, making it important to accurately reflect trade and other linkages. In addition, modeling techniques developed in applications for one country are often readily transferable to the other.
The ultimate objective is to provide information useful for public and private strategic analysis and planning of domestic and international policy options for carbon sequestration and GHG mitigation options in the two sectors, as well as looking at the potential role of biomass for bioenergy production and at issues related to climate change impacts and adaptation.
Currently, the forum will be hosted virutally on Zoom. Link for registration for Zoom is posted in the banner above.
The Modeling Forum is sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Organizing Committee is made up of individuals from the U.S., Canadian, and Mexican governments, as well as universities and research institutes.
Questions? Please contact Kirsten Franzen at kfranzen@rti.org for more information.
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