An Overview of Carbon Offsets from Agriculture

Abstract

Although climate change has largely been removed from the federal policy agenda of the United States in the near term, the continued reliance on fossil fuels as a dominant energy source leaves many analysts to conclude that climate policy will eventually reappear on that agenda. We present a review of recent research related to the design and implementation of one instrument for greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction: offsets. As these are implemented, policy makers must understand the way these programs work. In this review, we describe the basic features of carbon offset markets, along with the potential supply of offsets from agricultural sources and associated cost considerations. In this discussion we highlight the role of institutional design of contracts and transactions costs. We then turn to the benefits of including offsets in policies to reduce GHGs and complete the review with a discussion of the challenges in implementing the programs.

Grassland management impacts on soil carbon stocks: a new synthesis

“…The impacts of management on changes in woody production are not addressed here nor are changes in forage production, which can have consequence for on‐site CH 4 emissions and land use/management decisions through leakage/indirect land use change (Gonzalez‐Ramirez et al. ). Thus while we do not address the several economic and policy challenges to fostering improved grassland management through support for increasing soil C stocks (Conant , , Booker et al.…”

“…While our results clearly show a growing body of literature demonstrating that improved grassland management can lead to increases in soil C concentrations and soil C stocks, the results presented here do not address several barriers to developing policies intended to bring about increases in soil C stocks as a greenhouse gas mitigation measure. The impacts of management on changes in woody production are not addressed here nor are changes in forage production, which can have consequence for on-site CH 4 emissions and land use/management decisions through leakage/indirect land use change (Gonzalez-Ramirez et al 2013). Thus while we do not address the several economic and policy challenges to fostering improved grassland management through support for increasing soil C stocks (Conant 2011, 2012, Booker et al 2013, this synthesis of biophysical work confirms that improvements in grassland management lead to increased soil C stocks in grassland ecosystems under a wide range of conditions.…”

A Systematic Review of the Use of Organization and Management Theories in Climate Change Studies

“…González‐Ramírez et al . () also considered carbon offsets, and focused on the related agricultural markets for agriculture, taking into account the transaction costs linked to carbon offsets that should be considered by policy makers when designing a carbon offset program. The fact that transaction costs mainly constitute a barrier, is also highlighted by Honlonkou and Hassan ().…”

“…Second, economic approaches to environmental and carbon policy studies include game theory (Rasmusen, ) and transaction cost theory (Williamson, ). Despite adopting economic perspectives, such studies provide both managerial and policy recommendations on key organizational and business issues, such as insurance systems (Porrini and Schwarze, ; de Villemeur and Leroux, ), carbon offsetting and trading (González‐Ramírez et al ., ; Cacho et al ., ) and resource efficiency (Chew et al ., ). Finally, psychological theories were included, such as the TPB (Ajzen, ), and behavioural economic theories, such as the prospect theory (Kahneman and Tversky, ).…”

Payment for Rice Growers to Reduce Using N Fertilizer in the GHG Mitigation Program Driven by the Government: Evidence from Shanghai

“…As one of the major sources, agriculture contributes for 15-19% of the total emission of China, which is above the global average level of 13.5% [1]. Especially, overusing N fertilizer leads to the excessive GHG emission from Chinese agriculture and rural environmental deterioration [1][2][3]. To relieve climatic and environmental problems, the Chinese government drew up a plan on reducing the use of N fertilizer, and declares to pursue the "green, low-carbon, sustainable" agricultural development.…”