Abstract
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.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Source: California Air Resources Board (2018a)
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Information provided by Stephen Shelby, an administrator at the CARB Compliance Offset division. Personal communication January 24, 2017.
Information provided by Sarah Wescott, a program associate with the Climate Action Reserve, a California Offset Project Registry. Personal communication, November 2, 2016.
Information provided by Dylan Jenkins, vice president, at FiniteCarbon Portfolio Development. Personal communication February 11, 2017. Information provided by Stephen Shelby, an administrator at the CARB Compliance Offset division. Personal communication January 24, 2017.
Information provided by Sarah Wescott, a program associate with the Climate Action Reserve, a California Offset Project Registry. Personal communication, November 2, 2016.
References
America’s Pledge Initiative on Climate (2018) Fulfilling America’s pledge: how states, cities, and business are leading the united states to a low-carbon future. www.americaspledge.com. Accessed 21 Dec 2018
American Carbon Registry (2018a) Projects offset credits issued. https://acr2.apx.com/myModule/rpt/myrpt.asp?r=111. Accessed 24 May 2019
American Carbon Registry (2018b) Buffer pool account balance. https://acr2.apx.com/myModule/rpt/myrpt.asp?r=209. Accessed 19 Dec 2018
Anderson CA, Field CB, Mach KJ (2017) Forest offsets partner climate-change mitigation with conservation. Ecol Environ 15(7):359–365
Associated Press (2018) California is now the world’s fifth-largest economy, surpassing united kingdom. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-california-economy-gdp-20180504-story.html. Accessed 31 March 2019
Baranzini A, Borzykowski N, Carattini S (2016) Carbon offsets out of the woods? The acceptability of domestic vs. international reforestation programmes. Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment Working Paper No. 257
Brown K, Adger WN (1994) Economic and political feasibility of international carbon offsets. For Ecol Manag 68:217–229
California Air Resources Board (2013a) First California carbon offsets approved under forestry protocol. Press Release. https://www.arb.ca.gov/newsrel/newsrelease.php?id=522 Accessed 7 March 2018)
California Air Resources Board (2013b) California and Quebec sign agreement to integrate, harmonize their cap-and-trade programs. Press Release. https://www.arb.ca.gov/newsrel/newsrelease.php?id=508 Accessed 7 March 2018
California Air Resources Board (2014) California’s compliance offset program. https://www.thepmr.org/system/files/documents/ARB%20Offsets%20PMR%20webinar%202014%20FINAL_Mexico.pdf Accessed 20 Oct 2018
California Air Resources Board (2015a) Overview of arb emissions trading program. https://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/capandtrade/guidance/cap_trade_overview.pdf. Accessed 24 May 2019
California Air Resources Board (2015b) Compliance offset protocol U.S. forest projects. https://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/capandtrade/protocols/usforest/forestprotocol2015.pdf Accessed 15 Sept 2018
California Air Resources Board (2016) State of California air resources board meeting transcript of November 17, 2016. https://www.arb.ca.gov/board/mt/2016/mt111716.pdf Accessed 7 Dec 2018
California Air Resources Board (2018a) ARB offset credits issued. https://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/capandtrade/offsets/issuance/arb_offset_credit_issuance_table.pdf. Accessed 16 Dec 2018
California Air Resources Board (2018b) 100 percent of companies in cap-and-trade program meet 2015–2017 compliance requirements. https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/news/100-percent-companies-cap-and-trade-program-meet-2015-2017-compliance-requirements. Accessed 21 Dec 2018
California Air Resources Board (2018c) California cap-and-trade program summary of proceeds to California and consigning entities. https://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/capandtrade/auction/proceeds_summary.pdf. Accessed 17 Dec 2018
California Air Resources Board (2018d) California cap-and-trade program, and Québec cap-and-trade system August 2018 joint auction #16 summary results report. https://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/capandtrade/auction/aug-2018/summary_results_report.pdf. Accessed 17 Dec 2018
California Air Resources Board (CARB) (2019) California cap-and-trade-program summary of California-Quebec joint settlement prices and results. https://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/capandtrade/auction/results_summary.pdf. Accessed 25 May 2019
California Code of Regulations (2017a) 17 CCR § 95841. Annual allowance budgets for calendar years 2013–2030
California Code of Regulations (2017b) 17 CCR § 95985. Invalidation of carb offset credits
Climate Action Reserve (2018) ARB compliance projects. https://thereserve2.apx.com/myModule/rpt/myrpt.asp?r=211. Accessed 18 Dec 2018
Daniels TL (2010) Integrating forest carbon sequestration into a cap-and-trade program to reduce net CO2 emissions. J Am Plan Assoc 76(4):463–475
Daniels TL (2014) The environmental planning handbook, 2nd edn. American Planning Association, Planners Press, Chicago
Danigelis A (2018) California hit 2020 emissions reduction goal four years early—here’s how. Energy Manager Today 17 July, 2018. https://www.energymanagertoday.com/california-2020-emissions-reduction-0177321/. Accessed 24 May 2019
Duan M, Pang T, Zhang XZ (2014) Review of carbon emissions trading pilots in China. Eng Environ 25(3–4):527–549
European Commission (2019) EU Emissions Trading System. https://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/ets_en. Accessed 24 May 2019
Forestry New Zealand (2019) An overview of forestry in the emissions trading scheme. https://www.mpi.govt.nz/dmsdocument/6991. Accessed 18 April 2019
Galik C, Jackson R (2009) Risks to forest carbon offset projects in a changing climate. For Ecol Manag 257(11):2209–2216
Gillenwater M, Trexler D, Broekhoff M et al (2007) Policing the voluntary carbon market. Nat Clim Change 6:85–87
Gleckman H (2018) Economists love carbon taxes. Voters don’t. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/howardgleckman/2018/12/27/economists-love-carbon-taxes-voters-dont/#665ec76d4338. Accessed 17 March 2019
Goldstein A, Ruef F (2016) View from the understory: forest carbon finance 2016, overview. Forest Trends Ecosystem Market Place, Washington, DC. https://www.forest-trends.org/wp-content/uploads/imported/2016SOFCFReport_113016.pdf Accessed 24 May 2019
Griscom B et al (2017) Natural climate solutions. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 114:11645–11650
Han H, Bae JS, Kim YH, Ryu DH (2019) Trends and prospects of the forest carbon market in south korea. In: Proceedings of the 2019 Forest and Forestry Outlook, Seoul, Republic of Korea, pp 359–382 (in Korean)
Hsia-Kiung K, Reyna E, O’Connor T (2014) Carbon market California: a comprehensive analysis of the golden state’s cap-and-trade program, year one, 2012–2013. Environmental Defense Fund, Washington, DC. http://www.edf.org/california-cap-and-trade-updates Accessed 4 Feb 2018
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (2018) Global warming of 1.5 °C. Summary for policymakers. https://report.ipcc.ch/sr15/pdf/sr15_spm_final.pdf. Accessed 19 April 2019
International Carbon Action Partnership (ICAP) (2019) Emissions trading worldwide: status report 2019. https://icapcarbonaction.com/en/?option=com_attach&task=download&id=625. Accessed 24 May 2019
Jenkins DH (2013) The business case for California forest carbon offsets. The Forestry Source 7 January 2013. https://www.finitecarbon.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/FiniteCarbon-SAF-ForestrySource-January-2013.pdf. Accessed 2 June 2019
Jenkins DH (2015) Cash for carbon revisited. For Landowners 74(3):36–41
Jenkins DH, Smith MS (2013) Carbon offsets: is there a path to market? The Consultant 25–29. http://www.finitecarbon.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/FiniteCarbon-2013-ACF-Consultant-Article.pdf Accessed 15 Feb 2018
Jones N (2017) How the world passed a carbon threshold and why it matters. Yale Environment 360. https://e360.yale.edu/features/how-the-world-passed-a-carbon-threshold-400ppm-and-why-it-matters. Accessed 14 Dec 2018
Kahn B (2017) We just breached the 410 ppm threshold for CO2. Climate Central. http://www.climatecentral.org/news/we-just-breached-the-410-parts-per-million-threshold-21372 Accessed 27 Dec 2018
Kelly EC, Schmitz MB (2016) Forest offsets and the California compliance market: bringing an abstract ecosystem good to market. Geoforum 75:99–109
Kintisch E (2008) Climate change: California emissions plan to explore use of offsets. Science 321(23):182–183
Lehmann E (2010) Senate abandons climate effort, dealing blow to president. The New York Times. https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/07/23/23climatewire-senate-abandons-climate-effort-dealing-blow-88864.html Accessed 20 Dec 2018
Manley B, Maclaren P (2012) Potential impact of carbon trading on forest management in New Zealand. For Policy Econ 24:35–40
Muuls M, Colmer J, Martin R, Wagner U (2016) Evaluating the EU emissions trading system: take it or leave it? An assessment of the data after ten years. Imperial College London: Grantham Institute Briefing Paper No 21. https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/grantham-institute/public/publications/briefing-papers/Evaluating-the-EU-emissions-trading-system_Grantham-BP-21_web.pdf Accessed 21 March 2019
Popkin G (2019) The forest question. Nature 565:280–282
Ramstein C, Goyal R, Gray S, Kallhauge A (2018) State and trends of carbon pricing 2018. The World Bank, Washington, DC. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/29687. Accessed 22 March 2019
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) (2019) Annual report on the market for RGGI CO2 allowances: 2018. https://www.rggi.org/sites/default/files/Uploads/Market-Monitor/Annual-Reports/MM_2018_Annual_Report.pdf. Accessed 23 May 2019
The White House (2015) Fact sheet: U.S. reports its 2025 emissions target to the UNFCCC. https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/03/31/fact-sheet-us-reports-its-2025-emissions-target-unfccc. Accessed 27 Dec 2017
The World Bank (2012) Tokyo’s emissions trading System: a review of its operation since 2010. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/607981468253741772/pdf/810580BRI0Toky00Box379819B00PUBLIC0.pdf. Accessed 4 March 2018
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) (2015) Adoption of the Paris agreement. https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2015/cop21/eng/l09r01.pdf. Accessed 27 Dec 2016
United States Department of Agriculture (2014a) Who owns America’s trees, woods, and forests? Results from the U.S. forest service 2011–2013 national woodland owner survey. http://www.fs.fed.us/nrs/pubs/inf/nrs_inf_31_15-NWOS-whoowns.pdf. Accessed 20 Oct 2017
United States Department of Agriculture (2014b) U.S. forest resource facts and historical trends. https://www.fia.fs.fed.us/library/brochures/docs/2012/ForestFacts_1952-2012_English.pdf. Accessed 10 Feb 2017
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) (2016a) Carbon sequestration. http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/niacs/carbon/forests/carbon_sequestration/. Accessed 20 Oct 2017
United States Department of Agriculture (2016b) Forest legacy program: funded and completed projects. https://www.fs.fed.us/spf/coop/programs/loa/flp_projects.shtml. Accessed 16 Dec 2018
United States Energy Information Administration (2018) State carbon dioxide emissions. https://www.eia.gov/environment/emissions/state/analysis/pdf/table1.pdf. Accessed 21 Dec 2018
United States Environmental Protection Agency (2017) Global greenhouse gas emissions data. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data#Country. Accessed 17 March 2019
University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (2016) Forest research and outreach. http://ucanr.edu/sites/forestry/California_forests/. Accessed 28 Dec 2017
van der Gaast W, Sikkema R, Vohrer M (2018) The contribution of forest carbon credit projects to addressing the climate change challenge. Clim Policy 18(1):42–48
Verra (2018) Project Database, Compliance Projects. https://www.vcsprojectdatabase.org/#/compliance-projects. Accessed 19 Dec 2018
Xiang WN (2019) Ecopracticology: the study of socio-ecological practice. Socio-Ecol Pract Res 1(1): 7–14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42532-019-00006-6
Yardley W (2009) Protecting the forests, and hoping for payback. The New York Times, p 22. https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/science/earth/29trees.html. Accessed 24 May 2019
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kim, C., Daniels, T. California's success in the socio-ecological practice of a forest carbon offset credit option to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Socio Ecol Pract Res 1, 125–138 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42532-019-00017-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42532-019-00017-3