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.
ORCID
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.