Economic consequences of consideration of permanence, leakage and additionality for soil carbon sequestration projects

Murray, Brian C.; Sohngen, Brent; Ross, Martin T.

doi:10.1007/s10584-006-9169-4

Cited by 96 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…GHG offset payments in forestry and agriculture are typically modified to account for permanence, additionality, and leakage (Murray et al, 2007). Permanence reflects the fact that stored carbon could be re-released due, for instance, to harvesting the timber after some time.…”

Section: Ghg Mitigationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Valuing ecosystem services from wetlands restoration in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley

Jenkins

Murray

Kramer

et al. 2010

Ecological Economics

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This study assesses the value of restoring forested wetlands via the U.S. government's Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley by quantifying and monetizing ecosystem services. The three focal services are greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation, nitrogen mitigation, and waterfowl recreation. Site-and region-level measurements of these ecosystem services are combined with process models to quantify their production on agricultural land, which serves as the baseline, and on restored wetlands. We adjust and transform these measures into per-hectare, valuation-ready units and monetize them with prices from emerging ecosystem markets and the environmental economics literature. By valuing three of the many ecosystem services produced, we generate lower bound estimates for the total ecosystem value of the wetlands restoration. Social welfare value is found to be between $1435 and $1486/ha/year, with GHG mitigation valued in the range of $171 to $222, nitrogen mitigation at $1248, and waterfowl recreation at $16. Limited to existing markets, the estimate for annual market value is merely $70/ha, but when fully accounting for potential markets, this estimate rises to $1035/ha. The estimated social value surpasses the public expenditure or social cost of wetlands restoration in only 1 year, indicating that the return on public investment is very attractive for the WRP. Moreover, the potential market value is substantially greater than landowner opportunity costs, showing that payments to private landowners to restore wetlands could also be profitable for individual landowners.

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Section: Ghg Mitigationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Valuing ecosystem services from wetlands restoration in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley

Jenkins

Murray

Kramer

et al. 2010

Ecological Economics

Self Cite

223

120

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“…(10) More research is required on the biodiversity gains of fallowing in renosterveld. (11) Permanence: fallowed fields could be returned to agriculture (Murray et al 2007). (12) Leakage: emissions could result outside the CSF project boundary (Murray et al 2007).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(11) Permanence: fallowed fields could be returned to agriculture (Murray et al 2007). (12) Leakage: emissions could result outside the CSF project boundary (Murray et al 2007). (13) CSF projects in communal (no tenure) agricultural areas would be subjected to increased transaction costs and higher risks.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sequestering carbon and restoring renosterveld through fallowing: a practical conservation approach for the Overberg, Cape Floristic Region, South Africa

Mills

Birch

Stanway

et al. 2013

Conservation Letters

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Carbon credits are a potential source of funding for restoration initiatives that contribute to achieving conservation targets in important biodiversity areas. Here we investigated whether fallowing sequesters carbon; a first step in assessing the viability of using carbon financing to promote restoration of threatened vegetation in agricultural landscapes. We used renosterveld, a critically endangered shrubland vegetation of the Cape Floristic Region, as a case study. Carbon stocks of soil and biomass in active fields, fallow fields and intact renosterveld were compared. The total carbon stocks measured in fallow fields (82 Mg C ha −1 ) show that fallowing can sequester carbon lost in the conversion from intact renosterveld (84 Mg C ha −1 ) to active fields (69 Mg C ha −1 ) and that revenues of US$ 10 -48 ha −1 yr −1 from carbon credits could accrue. Our findings suggest that carbon financing could be used to incentivise ecological restoration in marginal agricultural landscapes.

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“…Forest fires, harvesting activities, extreme events or other disturbances may cause previously stored forest 22 carbon to be successively released into the atmosphere. On the containment of reversibility risks three main carbon-accounting schemes have been proposed to assign credits to the forest-based mitigation projects: i) comprehensive, ii) ex ante discounting, and iii) temporary crediting (see Murray, 2007 for more details on crediting systems). Among these, the temporary crediting scheme has emerged as the leading system for managing credits related to activities such as afforestation and reforestation.…”

Section: Forest Carbon Reversibility and Additionalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving Land-Use Modelling within CGE to Assess Forest-Based Mitigation Potential and Costs

Michetti

Parrado

2012

SSRN Journal

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SummaryWe present a computable general equilibrium model properly modified to analyse the potential role of the European forestry sector within climate mitigation. Improvements on database and modelling frameworks allow accounting for land heterogeneity across and within regions and for land transfers between agriculture, grazing, and forestry. The forestry sector has been modified to track carbon mitigation potential from both intensive and extensive forest margins, which have been calibrated according to a forest sectoral model. Two sets of climate policies are simulated. In a first scenario, Europe is assumed to commit unilaterally to reduce CO2 emissions by 20% and 30%, by 2020. In a second scenario, in addition to the emissions quotas, progressively higher forest sequestration subsidies are paid to European firms to foster the implementation of forestry practices. Results show that including forest carbon in the compliance strategy decreases European policy costs and carbon price, while it does not lead to significant reductions in carbon leakage. We conclude that while European forests can reinforce other mitigation measures, their contribution as a stand-alone abatement strategy results insufficient to comply with emissions reduction targets. Additionally, carbon sinks provided by European temperate forests do not offer considerable mitigation potential if compared with other forest biomes around the world. A much higher forest mitigation would require other regions to take part in a climate stabilization agreement, especially those where old-growth forests exist. Keywords AbstractWe present a computable general equilibrium model properly modified to analyse the potential role of the European forestry sector within climate mitigation. Improvements on database and modelling frameworks allow accounting for land heterogeneity across and within regions and for land transfers between agriculture, grazing, and forestry. The forestry sector has been modified to track carbon mitigation potential from both intensive and extensive forest margins, which have been calibrated according to a forest sectoral model. Two sets of climate policies are simulated. In a first scenario, Europe is assumed to commit unilaterally to reduce CO 2 emissions of 20% and 30%, by 2020. In a second scenario, in addition to the emissions quotas, progressively higher forestsequestration subsidies are paid to European firms to foster the implementation of forestry practices. Results show that including forest carbon in the compliance strategy decreases European policy costs and carbon price, while it does not lead to significant reductions in carbon leakage. We conclude that while European forests can reinforce other mitigation measures, their contribution as a stand-alone abatement strategy results insufficient to comply with emissions reduction targets. Additionally, carbon sinks provided by European temperate forests do not offer considerable mitigation potential if compared with other forest biomes around the world. A much higher forest...

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Economic consequences of consideration of permanence, leakage and additionality for soil carbon sequestration projects

Cited by 96 publications

References 25 publications

Valuing ecosystem services from wetlands restoration in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley

Valuing ecosystem services from wetlands restoration in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley

Sequestering carbon and restoring renosterveld through fallowing: a practical conservation approach for the Overberg, Cape Floristic Region, South Africa

Improving Land-Use Modelling within CGE to Assess Forest-Based Mitigation Potential and Costs

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