• Who We Are
    • The Climate Trust
    • Climate Trust Capital
    • Achievements
    • Leadership And Board Of Directors
  • What We Do
    • Action
    • Impact
    • Case Studies
  • Financials
  • Media
    • Blog
    • News & Press
The Climate Trust | For conservation, carbon offset projects go far beyond reducing GHGs

For conservation, carbon offset projects go far beyond reducing GHGs

Agriculture, Biogas, Climate Finance, Forestry, Grasslands, Sectors, Wetlands

Last week, climate change was the theme of Land Trust Alliance’s annual conference. One of the most under-appreciated benefits of nature-based climate solutions and carbon offset projects in particular, is their contribution to land conservation. Carbon projects support ongoing conservation of the project area itself, provide revenue for ecosystem enhancement and climate change resilience, and fund subsequent land acquisitions. These benefits go far beyond reducing atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) levels.

Owning and managing land costs money and many properties owned for conservation purposes forego some revenue (i.e. reduced timber sales, lower cattle stocking rates, etc.) in order to meet conservation goals. Carbon offsets sales help replace that foregone revenue and ensure that the project area continues to be conserved, even in the face of unforeseen financial crises that might otherwise jeopardize the property’s conservation values. Contractual commitments to the permanence of GHG reduction provides a legal protection on top of the financial incentive.

Carbon offset revenues are frequently used to fund property stewardship, ecosystem enhancement, and climate resiliency. Restoring salmon habitat, removing invasive species, reducing woody fuels, and upsizing culverts to prepare for increasing rainfall due to climate change are just a few examples of conservation projects funded through carbon offset revenues. It is not always obvious, but a quick peek under the hood of most carbon projects reveals a wide range of additional conservation benefits made possible through offset sales.

Finally, land trusts are in the business of conserving land. Revenues from one carbon project frequently provide funding used to acquire new easements or the outright purchase of more high value conservation land. A number of large conservation deals in the last few years have employed carbon offset projects as important pieces of their financing.

While conservation outcomes resulting from carbon projects are obvious to land owners and conservationists, these benefits are often lost in larger discussions about carbon offsets. It is important for people and organizations in those discussions to look beyond just the GHG benefits of nature-based offset projects.

Tags
Adaptation
Aggregation
American Carbon Registry
Biochar
Blue Carbon
C-AGG
California Air Resources Board
California Carbon Info
Cap and Invest
carbon offset standards
Carbon Pricing
Carbon-Pulse
Clean Power Plan
Climate Action Reserve
Climate Bonds
Conservation Finance Network
Corporate Social Responsibility
CORSIA
Culture
Dairy Digester
Ecosystem Marketplace
Edible Portland
Energy Central
Environmental Defense Fund
Environmental Justice
EPAF
Farm Power Northwest
GreenBiz
IPCC
Job Announcement
Leadership
Low Carbon Fuel Standard
Milestone
Oregon Carbon Dioxide Standard
Oregon Clean Fuels Program
Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council
Oregon Global Warming Commission
Pacific Coast Action Plan on Climate and Energy
Paris
Portland General Electric
REDD
Renewable Fuel Standard
Renewable Identification Numbers
Request For Proposal
RGGI
Rice
Risk Management
Scientific American
Social Cost of Carbon
Supply Chain
Sustainable Business Oregon
Triple Pundit
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
Verified Carbon Standard
Western Climate Initiative
Recent Comments
Leave a comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT
Proud Member Partners in Diversity
  • DONATE
  • CAREERS
  • CONTACT

©2020 The Climate Trust. Crafted by ILLUSIO