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The demand for voluntary carbon sequestration: Experimental evidence from a reforestation project in Germany

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  • Bartels, Lara
  • Kesternich, Martin
  • Löschel, Andreas

Abstract

With the increasing recognition of the use of reforestation measures as a complement to conventional carbon emissions avoidance technologies it is important to understand the market valuation of local forest carbon sinks for climate change mitigation. We conducted a framed-field experiment among a Germany-wide sample to provide a revealed preference study on the individual willingness to pay (WTP) for carbon sequestration through forests. Our particular focus is on the role of local co-benefits of climate protection activities. In addition, we add geo-data to our experimental data to analyze the impact of spatial variation on the individual WTP. We find that the WTP for carbon removal exceeds the WTP for mitigation efforts found in previous studies. While spatial distances does affect the likelihood to contribute to a local carbon sink, it does not affect the average amount given. Additional survey data finds that trust in forest measures is higher compared to mitigation via an emissions trading scheme, whichcould explain the comparably high WTP.

Suggested Citation

  • Bartels, Lara & Kesternich, Martin & Löschel, Andreas, 2021. "The demand for voluntary carbon sequestration: Experimental evidence from a reforestation project in Germany," ZEW Discussion Papers 21-088, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:zewdip:21088
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    Cited by:

    1. Daniel Engler & Gunnar Gutsche & Amantia Simixhiu & Andreas Ziegler, 2022. "Social norms and individual climate protection activities: A framed field experiment for Germany," MAGKS Papers on Economics 202230, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    2. Toshi H. Arimura & Elke D. Groh & Miwa Nakai & Andreas Ziegler, 2022. "The causal effect of private and organizational climate-related identity on climate protection activities: Evidence from a framed field experiment in Japan," MAGKS Papers on Economics 202229, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    3. Sophia Möller & Andreas Ziegler, 2025. "Willingness to pay for biodiversity conservation and climate protection: A comparative empirical analysis for Germany," MAGKS Papers on Economics 202502, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    4. Engler, Daniel & Ziegler, Andreas & Gutsche, Gunnar & Simixhiu, Amantia, 2023. "Social Norms and Individual Climate Protection Activities: A Framed Field Experiment for Germany," VfS Annual Conference 2023 (Regensburg): Growth and the "sociale Frage" 277662, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    5. Feldhaus, Christoph & Gleue, Marvin & Löschel, Andreas & Werner, Peter, 2022. "Co-benefits motivate individual donations to mitigate climate change," Research Memorandum 004, Maastricht University, Graduate School of Business and Economics (GSBE).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    voluntary provision of environmental public goods; climate change mitigation; carbon sequestration; willingness to pay; co-benefits; revealed preferences; framed-field experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • Q23 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Forestry
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods

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