This guide seeks to explain the treatment of land use under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, including requirements for reporting GHG emissions and removals, accounting under the Kyoto Protocol, and guidance for REDD+.

The objective of this Guide is to increase the technical understanding of the treatment of land use
under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The land use
sector comprises land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) and agriculture, sometimes
referred to collectively as agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU).

The Guide aims to explain key decisions under the UNFCCC related to land use reporting and
accounting (e.g. forest-related reference levels, natural disturbances, etc.). The Guide provides
information on how issues are applied in practice and concrete examples to illustrate the challenges
around reporting and accounting of land use. The Guide does not cover all the options that have
been considered during negotiations that led to decisions under the UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol,
and it does not opine on a future agreement and what options may be considered under the Ad Hoc
Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP).