Bradford S. Gentry

Synthesis and Conclusions

This chapter provides an overview of the role of tropical forests in the international efforts to negotiate a new global climate treaty. Under the existing treaty, the Kyoto Protocol and its “flexible mechanisms” – particularly the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) – have succeeded in building a billion dollar market for emission reduction projects in developing countries. Since the decision to include efforts to reduce emissions from tropical deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) in the 2007 Bali Action Plan, considerable attention has focused on designing a REDD and REDD+ program for inclusion in the next global climate agreement. The positions taken by different countries on REDD are driven by their circumstances – from those with large areas of standing forest to those with few remaining forests, from those facing rapid rates of deforestation to those engaged in reforestation. The overarching issues to be decided in developing the framework of a REDD mechanism include: the scope of the forestry activities to be covered; the scale of accounting for forestry activities and the baseline for measuring reference emissions levels; the type of financing to be provided for REDD activities; how to address fundamental issues of capacity and governance; and the consideration of co-benefits. There is some convergence around the scope of a REDD mechanism, the need to ultimately undertake activities at a national scale, the likelihood that financing will be both fund and market based, and the potential to implement REDD in phases. However, many contentious issues remain, including how to set baselines and accounting rules for REDD/REDD+ and how to incorporate governance concerns.

Communicating environmental performance to the capital markets

Abstract Traditionally, the expected economic benefits of a companys proactive environmental has had little impact on how a firm is valued—unless of course the company is fighting a negative history reflected in fines, spills, violations, and other compliance indicators-all cost centers. CES is pleased to publish the work of Linda Descano and Bradford S. Gentry who discuss the implications of their studies on the importance of communicating “upside” environmental information to investors, and the implications for how information is collected, analyzed and communicated within the firm.

Emerging Markets for Ecosystem Services

Abstract Four main areas of learning were pursued during this exploration of die emerging markets for ecosystem services. First, die markets in Panama are dominated by the Panama Canal Authority and by timber revenues. Any strategy for expanding ecosystem services markets will have to reflect diese realities. Second, while the scientific and business components of die framework we used to analyze diese markets covered all the key points, more work needs to be done on die policy component. Articulating a simple, yet effective approach for developing policy recommendations to improve ecosystem services markets in context remains a key need. Third, valuable lessons were learned about ensuring tiiat the students capture die maximum benefits from an international, clinically-based field trip. Finally, interdisciplinary teaching/ research benefits dramatically from botii a focus on a single problem and recognition that the key challenge is turning complex scientific knowledge into accessible, good advice.

United States Legislative Proposals on Forest Carbon

This chapter provides an overview of the role of managing forests to store carbon in the efforts to adopt U.S. climate legislation at the national level (as of September 2010). While the U.S. has not ratified the Kyoto Protocol or adopted national climate legislation yet, considerable efforts have been underway to reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses at the regional (Northeastern U.S.), state (California), municipal, corporate, and individual levels. The issue of storage of carbon in forests and farmland has played a major role in U.S. emission reduction efforts, particularly in the voluntary carbon markets. As the demand for land-based carbon offsets has grown, so too has the demand for rules to define high quality, real offsets. The U.S. market has responded with a range of such rules, from those directly supported by governments, to those that are purely voluntary. Some of these rules cover how best to account for carbon in forest systems, such as: the types of forests/forestry operations covered; the pools of carbon in the forest that are included; the location of acceptable projects; and the “business as usual”/baseline emissions to be considered. Others go more directly to the quality of the offset produced, namely, whether the emission reductions are truly “additional” to those that would have happened anyway; how best to monitor and verify that the promised storage has occurred; how to protect against “ leakage; and how to ensure that the storage is permanent or how to protect against potential releases in the future.

Emerging Markets for Ecosystem Services: Individuals, Cases, and Analytical Frameworks

The New Economy of Nature: The Quest to Make Conservation Profitable, by G. C. Daily and K. Ellison