Carbon payments as a safeguard for threatened tropical mammals

Venter, Oscar; Meijaard, Erik; Possingham, Hugh P.; Dennis, Rona; Sheil, Douglas; Wich, Serge A.; Hovani, Lex; Wilson, Kerrie A.

doi:10.1111/j.1755-263x.2009.00059.x

Cited by 142 publications

(107 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…First, most previous studies have relied upon a deterministic "opportunity cost" assumption that deforestation would be avoided entirely wherever potential carbon payments exceed net revenue from alternative land uses (5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14). In contrast, we calibrate the marginal impact of potential carbon payments on deforestation using the empirical relationship between the pattern of observed deforestation in a historical period and spatial variation in the benefits and costs of converting land from forest to agriculture.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Structuring economic incentives to reduce emissions from deforestation within Indonesia

Busch

Lubowski

Godoy

et al. 2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

109

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We estimate and map the impacts that alternative national and subnational economic incentive structures for reducing emissions from deforestation (REDD+) in Indonesia would have had on greenhouse gas emissions and national and local revenue if they had been in place from 2000 to 2005. The impact of carbon payments on deforestation is calibrated econometrically from the pattern of observed deforestation and spatial variation in the benefits and costs of converting land to agriculture over that time period. We estimate that at an international carbon price of $10/ tCO 2 e, a "mandatory incentive structure," such as a cap-and-trade or symmetric tax-and-subsidy program, would have reduced emissions by 163-247 MtCO 2 e/y (20-31% below the without-REDD+ reference scenario), while generating a programmatic budget surplus. In contrast, a "basic voluntary incentive structure" modeled after a standard payment-for-environmental-services program would have reduced emissions nationally by only 45-76 MtCO 2 e/y (6-9%), while generating a programmatic budget shortfall. By making four policy improvements-paying for net emission reductions at the scale of an entire district rather than site-by-site; paying for reductions relative to reference levels that match business-as-usual levels; sharing a portion of district-level revenues with the national government; and sharing a portion of the national government's responsibility for costs with districts-an "improved voluntary incentive structure" would have been nearly as effective as a mandatory incentive structure, reducing emissions by 136-207 MtCO 2 e/y (17-26%) and generating a programmatic budget surplus.climate change | climate policy | land-use change | reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation A n emerging international climate policy mechanism called REDD+ would offer payments to developing countries that voluntarily reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation below internationally agreed reference levels (1). Individual forested countries would decide upon the specific set of policies and measures to implement to achieve nationwide emission reductions. Accounting for these net emission reductions would ultimately take place at the national level, making national governments responsible for any internal geographical shifts of emissions (leakage), and providing incentives for systemic policy actions. However, although governments would receive payments under REDD+, it is actors at the regional, provincial, local, or household (subnational) scales who are directly responsible for many land-use change decisions. Thus, the effectiveness of REDD+ in reducing emissions and generating revenue will depend upon how national governments structure economic incentives so that subnational actors will be encouraged to reduce emissions and discouraged from increasing emissions.Emission-reduction policy in the energy and industrial sectors of developed countries has commonly been approached through mandatory, market-based incentive structures, such as cap-andtrade...

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confidence: 99%

Structuring economic incentives to reduce emissions from deforestation within Indonesia

Busch

Lubowski

Godoy

et al. 2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

109

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“…Yet without specific provisions for biodiversity, REDD is likely to protect forests that are most cost-effective for reducing carbon emissions [29]. O. Venter et al [30] have demonstrated that prudent targeting of REDD funds can double biodiversity benefits while incurring only a small reduction (4% to 8%) in carbon benefits. There are however challenges in developing equitable benefit sharing mechanisms at different scales and would require adoption of pro-poor approach that is central to development of community-based approaches to forest management [31].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Harnessing REDD+ opportunities for forest conservation and carbon stock enhancement in the Northeastern States of India

Murthy¹,

Sharma²,

H³

2013

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Forests have significant economic and ecological value as a provider of ecosystem services, being home to much of the world's biodiversity and supporting the livelihoods of many people. Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD) is a critical component of the overall greenhouse gas emission reductions and now the significance of REDD+ (which is not only about reducing emissions but halting and reversing forest loss), in delivering climate change mitigation benefits along with co-benefits, is increasingly being recognized in global climate negotiations. Northeast India provides a tremendous potential for harnessing REDD+ activities with about 66% of the total geographical area of the region being covered by forests. This paper attempts to explore this potential besides estimating the area available for different options under REDD+ as well as the mitigation potential using COMAP model, overcoming limitations of existing studies or a lack of them. Within this, the status of forests and biodiversity along with drivers of deforestation in north east India are documented and an assessment of the potential for taking up reducing deforestation and degradation and enhancement of carbon stocks and afforestation is conducted both at the state as well as district level. It was found that northeastern states have been experiencing net forest loss during the last few years along with significant scale forest degradation, with Nagaland followed by Arunachal Pradesh offering maximum potential for "reducing deforestation" option under REDD and the total incremental annual mitigation potential of the four REDD+ activities in northeast India being 29.2 MtCO 2 for 2030.

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“…Similarly, forest degradation because of selective logging, fuel wood collection, or grazing of animals also brings benefits, and avoiding this degradation foregoes these benefits (Pagiola and Bosquet 2009). These opportunity costs are usually the single most important category of costs a country would incur if it reduced its rate of forest loss to secure payments for ecosystem services (Venter et al 2009b). An open market system, in which all economic actors have an equal opportunity of entry in that market, would require that the forest manager understands how the opportunity costs of foregone deforestation develop over time in order to weigh up whether forest protection for ecosystem services remains an economically competitive option.…”

Section: Monitoring and Verification Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%