Forest degradation is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, but it is difficult to measure and countries need technical support to report these emissions, according to a new FAO technical paper released today.

Estimating emissions and removals from forest degradation aims to guide countries seeking to report this type of emission internationally by identifying the challenges and summarising the different approaches countries are using and the lessons learnt.

“In some countries, forest degradation can account for as much as three quarters of total emissions from deforestation and degradation combined,” said Senior Forestry Officer Julian Fox. “But governments are struggling to report this information because it is more complicated to define and measure than deforestation. This technical paper aims to accelerate the process.”

Being able to calculate emissions from forest degradation is important both because it enables countries to address the problem, and because it is mandatory to report this information to qualify for climate finance.

Yet to date, while 55 countries have submitted reference levels to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) including emissions caused by deforestation, only 33 countries have included emissions from forest degradation.

The technical paper presents an overview of what is known about emissions from forest degradation globally and the how ongoing investment in data and analysis is helping to make it easier to measure.