How costly are carbon offsets? A meta-analysis of carbon forest sinks

Kooten, G. Cornelis van; Eagle, Alison J.; Manley, James; Smolak, Tara M.

doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2004.05.006

Cited by 163 publications

(91 citation statements)

References 56 publications

(42 reference statements)

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“…We calculated average annual set-up, implementation, and monitoring costs and their sum as transaction costs in US$ per hectare over the 20-year period. When calculating the net present value (NPV) of transaction costs, we used the discount rates of 3.8% (Central Bank of Peru's annualized interest rate for December 2010), 5%, and 10% to maintain comparability with similar studies (Pinedo-Vasquez et al 1992, Ferraro 2002, van Kooten et al 2004, Nepstad et al 2007, Potvin et al 2008, Viana et al 2009) and following recommendations in the literature for South American countries (Howard et al 1996, Rondon et al 2010. To facilitate comparisons between projects, we calculated costs on a per hectare basis.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+): Transaction Costs of Six Peruvian Projects

Thompson¹,

Paavola²,

Healey³

et al. 2013

E&S

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ABSTRACT. Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) has received strong support as a major component of future global climate change policy. The financial mechanism of REDD+ is payment for the ecosystem service of carbon sequestration in tropical forests that is expected to create incentives for conservation of forest cover and condition. However, the costs of achieving emissions reduction by these means remain largely unknown. We assess the set-up, implementation, and monitoring costs, i.e., collectively the transaction costs, of six of the first seven REDD+ project designs from the Peruvian Amazon and compare them with established projects in Brazil and Bolivia. The estimated costs vary greatly among the assessed projects from US$0.16 to 1.44 ha-1 yr-1, with an average of US$0.73 ha-1 yr-1, though they are comparable to earlier published estimates. The results indicate that the costs of implementing REDD+ are highly uncertain for participating developing countries because of issues such as inadequate project design and how additionality is determined. Furthermore, some insight is obtained into how different activities to reduce deforestation and forest degradation, the type of implementer, and project location affect implementation costs of REDD+ projects. Even with these first estimates, the cost of preserving existing intact forests in the Peruvian Amazon may have been underestimated.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+): Transaction Costs of Six Peruvian Projects

Thompson¹,

Paavola²,

Healey³

et al. 2013

E&S

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“…Carbon stock is the ecosystem service quantity stored in trees in tons of carbon per tree or per hectare of land which can be valued in monetary terms (Rashid, 2012). The price (value) of carbon per ton of carbon ranges from 10 to 150 US dollars (Richards and Stokes, 2004;Cornelis Van Kooten et al, 2004). The average market carbon price is USD 7.50 per ton of CO2 emission (Scharlemann et al, 2010).…”

Section: Valuation Of Carbon Stock As National Level Ecosystem Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing and mapping ecosystem services of trees outside forest

Tassew¹

2017

J. Ecol. Nat. Environ.

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The overall objective of the study was to map trees outside forest (TOF) in croplands, and their contribution to the supply of ecosystem services for local and national beneficiaries using participatory research, Google Earth and ArcMap in Ghana, as the case study area. A satellite image available from Google Earth was used to map croplands, and ArcMap was used to calculate the local and national ecosystem service hot spot areas based on the values assigned to each TOF individuals. The research identified and mapped a total of 786 TOF individuals and 50 TOF species in 147 ha of croplands in the study area. Ficus exasperate, Morinda lucida, Ceiba pentandra, Spathodea campanulata, Mangifera indica, Sterculia tragacantha, Funtumia elastic, Ficus carpensis, Vernonia amygdalina and Trilipisium madagascariense were the top ten most dominant species in terms of species occurrence. Fifteen different local ecosystem services supplied by TOF species, and the hotspot areas were identified and mapped. The total carbon stored by all 786 TOF in 147 ha of the study area was 759 tons of carbon. The most important TOF species and hotspot locations that require special planning, conservation, and management focus were identified and mapped. There was a poor correlation between the importance and location of the key species for local and national beneficiaries which might lead to a conflict of interest and illegal tree felling.

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“…By examining and measuring the level of carbon sequestrated in a biomass as well as in the soils of forests with different stands and types, it is possible for us to assess whether the cost of scientific management or control over these resources and increased contraction of heaps of soil can be reverted through CO 2 uptake in plant organs or not. The investigations show that the ever green wide-leaved forests have much further potentials to emit Co 2 and directing needleleaved forests into those of wide leafs can increase the rate of carbon absorption [7] . Similarly, the amount of carbon storage in plants' biomass in controlled forests is 335 tons ha −1 , in traditionally controlled forests it is 145 tons and in pastures this would be 46 tons ha −1 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, in the U.S.A, the estimated cost for each ton of carbon would be 100-300 US dollars [2] . Most of the carbon absorbing cost is spent on preserving and protecting the forests which is about 46.6-260.3 US dollars per ton [7] . By examining and measuring the level of carbon sequestrated in a biomass as well as in the soils of forests with different stands and types, it is possible for us to assess whether the cost of scientific management or control over these resources and increased contraction of heaps of soil can be reverted through CO 2 uptake in plant organs or not.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Study on Potentiality of Carbon Storage and CO2 Uptake in the Biomass and Soil of Coppice Stand

Khademi¹,

Babaei²,

Mataji³

2009

American J. of Environmental Sciences

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Problem statement: Enhancing carbon storage in terrestrial ecosystems, especially in the forests, is a key factor in maintaining the atmosphere's carbon balance. With regard to the importance of forest in carbon sequestration, this study attempted to investigate the carbon storage potential and CO 2 uptake in oak coppice stand. Approach: After combining slope, aspect and hypsometric maps, the number of land units (polygons) as well as their areas were determined. Then 60 sample trees were selected in such a way that all environmental and typological conditions were taken into account. After determining the overall weight of different parts of tree, to measure the dry weight as well as to determine the amount of biomass, different parts of tree were transformed to a kiln. The humus was collected and weighted in an area of 400 cm 2 under each tree. The quantity of ash was taken away from biomass, then the amount of organic sequestrated carbon as well as that of CO 2 uptake was measured. To determine the amount of carbon stored in the soil samples were extracted from the depths of 0-10 and 10-30 cm. Results: The amount of organic sequestrated carbon was 22.65 tons ha −1 . The trunk, root, branch, soil, leaf and humus had the maximal amount of storage respectively. The annual carbon dioxide uptake was 5.94 tons ha −1 . Conclusion: Coppice stands had massive plant coverage as well as an increase in biomass production if the destructive factors were removed from these areas.

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How costly are carbon offsets? A meta-analysis of carbon forest sinks

Cited by 163 publications

References 56 publications

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+): Transaction Costs of Six Peruvian Projects

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+): Transaction Costs of Six Peruvian Projects

Assessing and mapping ecosystem services of trees outside forest

A Study on Potentiality of Carbon Storage and CO2 Uptake in the Biomass and Soil of Coppice Stand

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