IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/rep/wpaper/2018-02.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Can Carbon Offset Trading Promote Economic Development in Forest-Dependent and First Nations Communities?

Author

Listed:
  • G. Cornelis van Kooten

Abstract

Forest-dependent, rural communities often experience declining populations and prosperity because technological changes related to harvesting, transportation and processing of wood fiber occur more rapidly than technical improvements in fiber availability – in forest growth. How then can communities where forest resources are the primary economic driver increase wealth that might then be used for economic development? Answers to this question are explored by examining the potential of different management regimes to create greater employment and wealth, particularly management options that include carbon values. Our application is to an interior forest region of British Columbia, the province where First Nations control the most timber supply and the region that produces the greatest volume and value of lumber for export. We examine the trade-offs between revenue as measured by net present value, employment and carbon in forest ecosystems, where the latter is a proxy for the ecological health of the forest. We conclude from the analysis that no management strategy is able to satisfy all of the technical, environmental and social/cultural constraints and, at the same time, offer forest-based economic development that will prevent the decline of rural communities. Nonetheless, given knowledge of tradeoffs, there are management options that can improve upon current employment, wealth and/or ecological health of the forest.
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • G. Cornelis van Kooten, 2018. "Can Carbon Offset Trading Promote Economic Development in Forest-Dependent and First Nations Communities?," Working Papers 2018-02, University of Victoria, Department of Economics, Resource Economics and Policy Analysis Research Group.
    • Handle: RePEc:rep:wpaper:2018-02
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://web.uvic.ca/~repa/publications/REPA%20working%20papers/WorkingPaper2018-02.pdf
    File Function: Final version, 2018
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. van Kooten, G. Cornelis, 2018. "The Challenge of Mitigating Climate Change through Forestry Activities: What Are the Rules of the Game?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 35-43.
    2. Johnston, Craig M.T. & Cornelis van Kooten, G., 2015. "Back to the past: Burning wood to save the globe," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 185-193.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. G. Cornelis van Kooten, 2023. "Determining optimal forest rotation ages and carbon offset credits: Accounting for post‐harvest carbon storehouses," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 71(2), pages 255-272, June.
    2. G. Cornelis van Kooten, 2020. "Climate Change and Agriculture," Working Papers 2020-01, University of Victoria, Department of Economics, Resource Economics and Policy Analysis Research Group.
    3. van Kooten, G. Cornelis & Nijnik, Maria & Bradford, Kimpton, 2019. "Can carbon accounting promote economic development in forest-dependent, indigenous communities?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 68-74.
    4. van Kooten, G. Cornelis, 2018. "The Challenge of Mitigating Climate Change through Forestry Activities: What Are the Rules of the Game?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 35-43.
    5. Kooten, G. Cornelis Van, 2022. "The Impact of Carbon on Optimal Forest Rotation Ages: An Application to Coastal Forests in British Columbia," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322612, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    6. G. Cornelis van Kooten, 2017. "The Policy Challenge of Creating Forest Offset Credits: A Case Study from the Interior of British Columbia," Working Papers 2017-02, University of Victoria, Department of Economics, Resource Economics and Policy Analysis Research Group.
    7. 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.
    8. Lauri, Pekka & Forsell, Nicklas & Korosuo, Anu & Havlík, Petr & Obersteiner, Michael & Nordin, Annika, 2017. "Impact of the 2°C target on global woody biomass use," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 121-130.
    9. van Kooten, G. Cornelis, 2017. "The Economic Challenge of Mitigating Climate Change through Forestry Activities," 2017 International Congress, August 28-September 1, 2017, Parma, Italy 257809, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    10. Wang, Yihan & Wen, Zongguo & Yao, Jianguo & Doh Dinga, Christian, 2020. "Multi-objective optimization of synergic energy conservation and CO2 emission reduction in China's iron and steel industry under uncertainty," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    11. Daigneault, Adam & Johnston, Craig & Korosuo, Anu & Baker, Justin S. & Forsell, Nicklas & Prestemon, Jeffrey P. & Abt, Robert C., 2019. "Developing Detailed Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP) Narratives for the Global Forest Sector," Journal of Forest Economics, now publishers, vol. 34(1-2), pages 7-45, August.
    12. G. Cornelis van Kooten & Mark E. Eiswerth & Jonathon Izett & Alyssa R. Russell, 2021. "Climate Change and the Social Cost of Carbon: DICE Explained and Expanded," Working Papers 2021-01, University of Victoria, Department of Economics, Resource Economics and Policy Analysis Research Group.
    13. Jarisch, Isabelle & Bödeker, Kai & Bingham, Logan Robert & Friedrich, Stefan & Kindu, Mengistie & Knoke, Thomas, 2022. "The influence of discounting ecosystem services in robust multi-objective optimization – An application to a forestry-avocado land-use portfolio," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    14. G. Cornelis van Kooten, 2016. "California Dreaming: The Economics of Renewable Energy," Working Papers 2016-05, University of Victoria, Department of Economics, Resource Economics and Policy Analysis Research Group.
    15. van Kooten, G. Cornelis, 2020. "How effective are forests in mitigating climate change?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    16. Knoke, Thomas & Gosling, Elizabeth & Paul, Carola, 2020. "Use and misuse of the net present value in environmental studies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    17. Graves, Rose A. & Nielsen-Pincus, Max & Haugo, Ryan D. & Holz, Andrés, 2022. "Forest carbon incentive programs for non-industrial private forests in Oregon (USA): Impacts of program design on willingness to enroll and landscape-scale program outcomes," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    carbon accounting; climate mitigation and forestry; forest-dependent rural communities;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • Q23 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Forestry
    • Q01 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - General - - - Sustainable Development
    • C61 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Optimization Techniques; Programming Models; Dynamic Analysis

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:rep:wpaper:2018-02. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: G.C. van Kooten (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/devicca.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.