Start Date

11-10-2021 3:45 PM

End Date

11-10-2021 5:00 PM

Access Type

Open Access

Abstract

Forest carbon offsets are increasingly prominent in corporate and government “net zero” emission strategies, but face growing criticism about their efficacy. California’s forest offsets program is frequently promoted as a high-quality approach that improves on the failures of earlier efforts. I will demonstrate how ecological and statistical shortcomings in the design of California’s forest offset protocol generate offset credits that do not reflect real climate benefits. I will use these findings to discuss how protocol designs with easily exploitable rules can undermine policy objectives and highlight the need for stronger governance in carbon offset markets.

Biography

Grayson is a forest ecologist studying how leaf-level physiology affects global-scale biogeochemical cycles. Grayson holds a PhD in plant physiology from Stanford University.

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Oct 11th, 3:45 PM Oct 11th, 5:00 PM

Systematic over-crediting in California’s forest carbon offsets program

Forest carbon offsets are increasingly prominent in corporate and government “net zero” emission strategies, but face growing criticism about their efficacy. California’s forest offsets program is frequently promoted as a high-quality approach that improves on the failures of earlier efforts. I will demonstrate how ecological and statistical shortcomings in the design of California’s forest offset protocol generate offset credits that do not reflect real climate benefits. I will use these findings to discuss how protocol designs with easily exploitable rules can undermine policy objectives and highlight the need for stronger governance in carbon offset markets.