Evaluating Carbon Offsets from Forestry and Energy Projects : How Do They Compare?

Chomitz, Kenneth M.

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: ABATEMENT;    AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES;    AGRICULTURAL INTENSIFICATION;    AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION;    AIR;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-2357
RP-ID  :  WPS2357

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Under the Kyoto Protocol, industrialcountries accept caps on their emissions of greenhousegases. They are permitted to acquire offsetting emissionsreductions from developing countries - which do not haveemissions limitations - to assist in complying with thesecaps. Because these emissions reductions are defined againsta hypothetical baseline, practical issues arise in ensuringthat the reductions are genuine. Forestry-related emissionsreduction projects are often thought to present greaterdifficulties in measurement and implementation, thanenergy-related emissions reduction projects. The authordiscusses how project characteristics affect the process fordetermining compliance with each of the criteria forqualifying. Those criteria are: 1) Additionality. Wouldthese emissions reductions not have taken place without theproject? 2) Baseline and systems boundaries (leakage). Whatwould business-as-usual emissions have been without theproject? And in this comparison, how broad should spatial,and temporal system boundaries be? 3) Measurement (orsequestration). How accurately can we measure actualwith-project emissions levels? 4) Duration or permanence.Will the project have an enduring mitigating effect? 5)Local impact. Will the project benefit its neighbors? Forall the criteria except permanence, it is difficult to findgeneric distinctions between land use change and forestryand energy projects, since both categories comprise diverseproject types. The important distinctions among projectshave to do with such things as: a) The level anddistribution of the project's direct financialbenefits. b) How much the project is integrated with thelarger system. c) The project components' internalhomogeneity and geographic dispersion. d) The localreplicability of project technologies. Permanence is anissue specific to land use and forestry projects. The authordescribes various approaches to ensure permanence, or adjustcredits for duration: the ton-year approach (focusing on thebenefits from deferring climatic damage, and rewardinglonger deferral); the combination approach (bundling currentland use change and forestry emissions reductions withfuture reductions in the buyer's allowed amount); atechnology-acceleration approach; and an insurance approach.