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Transaction costs of carbon offset projects: A comparative study

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  • Cacho, Oscar J.
  • Lipper, Leslie
  • Moss, Jonathan

Abstract

The land-use change and forestry sector can be a cost-effective contributor to climate mitigation in at least three ways: providing carbon offsets through carbon sequestration in biomass and soils, reducing emissions of methane and other greenhouse gases, and producing biofuels that replace fossil fuels. The presence of carbon markets should help encourage these activities; however, most carbon trades to date have occurred in the energy sector. A major obstacle to carbon trades from land-use systems is the presence of high transaction costs of converting a carbon offset into a tradable commodity, so the prevailing market carbon prices may not provide enough incentive for adoption. This paper presents a model of the exchange of carbon offsets between a project developer and a group of landholders. The model is solved to derive project feasibility frontiers that show the minimum number of contracts necessary to make a project feasible at any given carbon price. The model is applied to two case studies (smallholder agroforestry in Indonesia and partial reforestation of family farms in Australia) under two types of contract (purchase of carbon flows and rental of carbon stocks). The paper concludes by identifying possible strategies to reduce transaction costs while maintaining project integrity.

Suggested Citation

  • Cacho, Oscar J. & Lipper, Leslie & Moss, Jonathan, 2013. "Transaction costs of carbon offset projects: A comparative study," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 232-243.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:88:y:2013:i:c:p:232-243
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2012.12.008
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    2. McCann, Laura, 2013. "Transaction costs and environmental policy design," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 253-262.
    3. Phan, Thu-Ha Dang & Brouwer, Roy & Hoang, Long Phi & Davidson, Marc David, 2017. "A comparative study of transaction costs of payments for forest ecosystem services in Vietnam," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 141-149.
    4. Moeller, Jonas C. & Susaeta, Andres & Deegen, Peter & Sharma, Ajay, 2024. "Profitability analysis of southern plantations through timber alone or timber and carbon integration in pine-sweetgum mixes," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
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    6. De Cara, Stéphane & Henry, Loïc & Jayet, Pierre-Alain, 2018. "Optimal coverage of an emission tax in the presence of monitoring, reporting, and verification costs," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 71-93.
    7. Gren, Ing-Marie & Zeleke, Abenezer Aklilu, 2016. "Policy design for forest carbon sequestration: A review of the literature," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 128-136.
    8. Piffer Salles, Guilherme & Paiva Salinas, Delhi Teresa & Paulino, Sônia Regina, 2017. "How Funding Source Influences the Form of REDD+ Initiatives: The Case of Market Versus Public Funds in Brazil," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 91-101.
    9. Phan, Thu-Ha Dang & Brouwer, Roy & Davidson, Marc David, 2017. "A Global Survey and Review of the Determinants of Transaction Costs of Forestry Carbon Projects," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 1-10.
    10. Fabian H. Härtl & Sebastian Höllerl & Thomas Knoke, 2017. "A new way of carbon accounting emphasises the crucial role of sustainable timber use for successful carbon mitigation strategies," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 22(8), pages 1163-1192, December.
    11. Hou, Guolong & Delang, Claudio O. & Lu, Xixi & Olschewski, Roland, 2020. "Optimizing rotation periods of forest plantations: The effects of carbon accounting regimes," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    12. Torabi, Nooshin & Bekessy, Sarah A., 2015. "Bundling and stacking in bio-sequestration schemes: Opportunities and risks identified by Australian stakeholders," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 15(C), pages 84-92.
    13. Mundaca, Luis & Mansoz, Mathilde & Neij, Lena & Timilsina, Govinda R, 2013. "Transaction costs of low-carbon technologies and policies : the diverging literature," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6565, The World Bank.
    14. Bruno D. V. Marino & Nahuel Bautista & Brandt Rousseaux, 2021. "Howland Forest, ME, USA: Multi-Gas Flux (CO 2 , CH 4 , N 2 O) Social Cost Product Underscores Limited Carbon Proxies," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-17, April.
    15. Moss, Jonathan & Cacho, Oscar J., 2014. "Farm-scale analysis of the potential uptake of carbon offset activities," 2014 Conference, August 28-29, 2014, Nelson, New Zealand 187402, New Zealand Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    16. Tiberio Daddi & Niccolò Maria Todaro & Maria Rosa De Giacomo & Marco Frey, 2018. "A Systematic Review of the Use of Organization and Management Theories in Climate Change Studies," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(4), pages 456-474, May.
    17. Juutinen, Artti & Ahtikoski, Anssi & Lehtonen, Mika & Mäkipää, Raisa & Ollikainen, Markku, 2018. "The impact of a short-term carbon payment scheme on forest management," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 115-127.
    18. Hofstad, Ole & Araya, Meley Mekonen, 2015. "Optimal wood harvest in miombo woodland considering REDD+payments — A case study at Kitulangalo Forest Reserve, Tanzania," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 9-16.
    19. Andrew McGregor & Edward Challies & Peter Howson & Rini Astuti & Rowan Dixon & Bethany Haalboom & Michael Gavin & Luca Tacconi & Suraya Afiff, 2015. "Beyond Carbon, More Than Forest? REDD+ Governmentality in Indonesia," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 47(1), pages 138-155, January.
    20. Nantongo, Mary & Vatn, Arild, 2019. "Estimating Transaction Costs of REDD+," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 1-11.

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