Biological Carbon Sequestration and Carbon Trading Re-Visited
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Under Kyoto, biological activities that
sequester carbon can be used to create CO2 offset credits
that could obviate the need for lifestyle-changing
reductions in fossil fuel use. Credits are earned by
storing carbon in terrestrial ecosystems and wood
products, although CO2 emissions are also mitigated by
delaying deforestation, which accounts for one-quarter
of anthropogenic CO2 emissions. However, nonpermanent
carbon offsets from biological activities are
difficult to compare with each other and with emissions
reduction because they differ in how long they prevent
CO2 from entering the atmosphere. This is the duration
problem; it results in uncertainty and makes it difficult
to determine the legitimacy of biological activities in
mitigating climate change. While there is not doubt that
biological sink activities help mitigate climate change
and should not be neglected, in this paper we
demonstrate that these activities cannot be included in
carbon trading schemes.