La science forestière en soutien des négociations internationales sur les changements climatiques et ses implications locales

Forest science in support to international negotiation on climate change and its local consequences. This article gives an analysis of the major scientific questions underlying the decision making process dealing with forest monitoring under the topic land use, land use change and forestry as a driving force for climate change. It first gives the major scientific findings used as guidelines for political decisions since 1988. It than gives the head-lines of scientific reports which were requested as decision tools in the international negotiation on climate change and describes the redaction process in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. After a prospective analysis on key political issues around the Kyoto Protocol, the article concludes on the need for scientific expertise in the follow up of these technical debates.