Agenda for the 10^th Forestry and Agriculture GHG Modeling Forum, Autumn 2021

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)

Part I: Country policies and the role of AFOLU

• Global perspective: Land sector in nationally determined contributions (NDCs)
  • Nicklas Forsell, International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
• Canada and U.S. perspectives - High-level overview of current AFOLU activities
  • Tony Lemprière, Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada
  • Christine Dragisic, U.S. Department of State

Part II: Different perspectives on role of AFOLU in deep decarbonization efforts the United States and Canada: how do we actually get there – challenges and opportunities

• Speaker Panel: Perspectives, experiences and lessons learned
  • Allen Fawcett, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
  • Susan Cook-Patton, The Nature Conservancy
  • Ronnie Drever, Nature United
  • Emily McGlynn, UC Davis
  • Melanie Plett, Government of British Columbia

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 Chairs: Robert Beach (RTI International), Carolyn Smith (Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada)

• Global mitigation potential from land-using sectors. Comparison of global and country-level mitigation potential from land-using sectors based on synthesis of existing literature and modeling using integrated assessment models (IAMs)
  • Bronscon Griscom, Conservation International
• Modeling of land-based mitigation. Discussion of latest global and regional results from GLOBIOM as well as IAMs
  • Andre Deppermann, IIASA
• U.S. mitigation potential from agriculture and forestry. Latest modeling of potential U.S. mitigation, using multiple state-of-the-art agriculture and forest sector models
  • Sara Ohrel, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Nature-based agricultural solutions for GHG mitigation for Canada. Assessment of the contributions of natural climate solutions from the agricultural sector to Canadian GHG mitigation
  • Brian McConkey, Viresco Solutions Inc.
• The carbon balance of Canada’s forest sector: opportunities for natural climate solutions or threats from climate change? Discussion of the potential for natural climate solutions from the Canadian forest sector under climate risk.
  • Werner Kurz, Natural Resources Canada

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 Chairs: Jeff O'Hara (U.S. Department of Agriculture), Greg Latta (University of Idaho), Jan Lewandrowski (U.S. Department of Agriculture)

• Broad overview of market-based approaches
  • Kate Zook, U.S. Department of Agriculture
• Panelists
  • Opportunities and challenges for growers in developing carbon and ecosystem credit markets. Shelby will be sharing the growers' perspective of the development of carbon and ecosystem credit markets focusing on how growers are learning about these opportunities, what challenges and barriers exist, and some questions that have come up in these discussions.
    • Shelby Myers, American Farm Bureau Federation
  • A brief look at forest offset participation in the United States.
    • Greg Latta, University of Idaho
  • Development of carbon projects on Indigenous lands. The presentation will describe the development of carbon projects on tribal lands. It will provide an overview of NICC’s services to tribes and a few projects in their pipeline.
    • Bryan Van Stippen, National Indian Carbon Coalition
  • Unlocking the climate potential in America’s family-owned forests.
    • Christine Cadigan, American Forest Foundation

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.
Session Chairs: Ron Sands (U.S. Department of Agriculture), Christopher Galik (North Carolina State University), Robert Beach (RTI International)

• Role of forestry and agriculture in Integrated Assessment of climate change
  • Ron Sands, USDA - Economic Research Service
• U.S. climate policy revisited: Implications for land systems change, water use, and nitrogen leaching
  • Maksym Chepeliev and Uris Baldos, Purdue University
• Costs of forest carbon sequestration in the presence of climate impacts
  • Alla Golub, Purdue University
• What do policy makers need to know?
  • Kate Larsen, Rhodium Group
• Closing Session: Taking stock and looking forward. Review of key themes from the 2021 Forum, discussion with all attendees
  • Moderator: Sara Ohrel, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency