Forest offsets and the California compliance market: Bringing an abstract ecosystem good to market

Kelly, Erin; Schmitz, Marissa

doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2016.06.021

Cited by 19 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Third-party verification of forests' carbon storage and other associated costs are prohibitive to smaller landowners joining the programme [89]. The stringent requirements of the California market have made landowners less likely to participate than they were in previous voluntary forestry offset programmes with more flexible requirements [90]. Changes in the market's structure in 2017 reduced the role of offsets so as to encourage more emissions reductions and limited out-of-state projects [91,92].…”

Section: Us Private Forestlands and Cdrmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forest policy and management approaches for carbon dioxide removal

et al. 2020

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Forests increasingly will be used for carbon dioxide removal (CDR) as a natural climate solution, and the implementation of forest-based CDR presents a complex public policy challenge. In this paper, our goal is to review a range of policy tools in place to support use of forests for CDR and demonstrate how concepts from the policy design literature can inform our understanding of this domain. We explore how the utilization of different policy tools shapes our ability to use forests to mitigate and adapt to climate change and consider the challenges of policy mixes and integration, taking a close look at three areas of international forest policy, including the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) and voluntary carbon offset markets. As it is our expertise, we then examine in detail the case of the USA as a country that lacks aggressive implementation of national climate policies but has potential to increase CDR through reforestation and existing forest management on both public and private land. For forest-based CDR to succeed, a wide array of policy tools will have to be implemented in a variety of contexts with an eye towards overcoming the challenges of policy design with regard to uncertainty in policy outcomes, policy coherence around managing forests for carbon simultaneously with other goals and integration across governance contexts and levels.

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Section: Us Private Forestlands and Cdrmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forest policy and management approaches for carbon dioxide removal

et al. 2020

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“…A study of California's Improved Forest Management projects showed that making carbon offsets viable required a level of cost and complexity, capital, knowledge, and technology that excluded marginal landowners. Carbon sequestration projects, therefore, may possibly involve more heavily State-managed initiatives, as opposed to balanced collaboration with small community landowners (Kelly and Schmitz 2016).…”

Section: Carbon Storagementioning

confidence: 99%

Northeastern California plateaus bioregion science synthesis

Dumroese¹,

Moser²

2020

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The Northeastern California Plateaus Bioregion Science Synthesis reviews literature relevant to the ecology and management of the Great Basin ecosystems and dry pine forests of the Lassen and Modoc National Forests. Critical factors on these national forests are reduced water availability-expected to become more challenging as levels and patterns of precipitation and temperature change under climate variability-coupled with a high proportion of rangeland and open woodland whose vegetation community is influenced by grazing of livestock and wild animal populations. Conifer encroachment of rangelands and the densification of woodlands, a result of fire suppression, impact wildlife communities that rely on open woodlands and other habitats characterized by having overstories of low density. Sagebrush habitat, in particular, is threatened by fragmentation and conversion. Socioeconomic changes in the region include a transition in the economic base from extraction to that of consumption of amenity values, and the resulting fragmentation of landownership. The local human population is expected to continue its trend of decline, but increased pressure by recreationists from nearby expanding urban areas is forcing land managers to consider increasingly complex situations or actions integrating social, ecological, and economic factors. Indigenous peoples are assuming a greater role in the management of their lands. Finally, disturbance patterns, such as nonhistorical fire frequency and intensity levels, novel combinations of climate patterns, and the pervasive pressure of nonnative invasive species could result in future ecosystems different than those today, presenting additional managerial challenges. This synthesis is intended to serve as a science-based foundation that supports management of Northeastern California forests, woodlands, and rangelands.

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“…To date, the literature on California's carbon offset program has focused on the mechanics of the program rather than the outcomes, for example (Jenkins 2013;Jenkins and Smith 2013;Hsia-Kiung et al 2014;Kelly and Schmitz 2016). Anderson et al (2017) found that California's offset program has provided additional carbon emissions reductions beyond a business-as-usual management approach.…”

Section: Previous Research On California's Forest Carbon Offset Credimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There has been relatively little activity reported in government-operated forest carbon offset programs (Han et al 2019, p. 368;ICAP 2019;RGGI 2019). Previous research on the California's forest carbon offset credits focused mainly on the mechanics of the program (Kelly and Schmitz 2016;Anderson et al 2017). One study found that in 2015 certified forests produced additional carbon reductions equal to 4.4 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, or a modest 1% of California's total carbon equivalent emissions (Anderson et al 2017, p. 360).…”

Section: A High Achiever Programmentioning

confidence: 99%

California's success in the socio-ecological practice of a forest carbon offset credit option to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions

Kim

Daniels

2019

Socio Ecol Pract Res

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The mitigation of climate change through the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions has become a central goal of international policy. An estimated 27 cap-and-trade programs to reduce carbon emissions exist worldwide. But only a small number of them use a forest carbon offset credit option. In 2012, California created a forest carbon offset credit option as part of its greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program. The offset credits have come primarily from US forests that meet requirements for additional, verifiable increases in carbon storage through improved forest management. California, with the help of its cap-and-trade program and modest carbon offset option, has met its initial goal for lower carbon emissions. This case study reveals a gap in socio-ecological practice research on a forest carbon offset credit option by identifying seven measures of success. These seven measures show how a forest carbon offset credit option can enhance a cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Countries and regions that are using or contemplating the use of a forest carbon offset credit option can employ these seven measures to design, evaluate, or upgrade their forest carbon offset programs.

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Forest offsets and the California compliance market: Bringing an abstract ecosystem good to market

Cited by 19 publications

References 26 publications

Forest policy and management approaches for carbon dioxide removal

Forest policy and management approaches for carbon dioxide removal

Northeastern California plateaus bioregion science synthesis

California's success in the socio-ecological practice of a forest carbon offset credit option to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions

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