Agriculture and the Clean Development Mechanism

Dinar, Ariel; Larson, Donald F.; Frisbie, J. Aapris

Agriculture and the Clean Development Mechanism

Autores

Dinar, Ariel

Larson, Donald F.

Frisbie, J. Aapris

Descripción

Many experts believe that low-cost mitigation opportunities in agriculture are abundant and comparable in scale to those found in the energy sector. They are mostly located in developing countries and have to do with how land is used. By investing in projects under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), countries can tap these opportunities to meet their own Kyoto Protocol obligations. The CDM has been successful in financing some types of agricultural projects, including projects that capture methane or use agricultural by-products as an energy source. But agricultural land-use projects are scarce under the CDM. This represents a missed opportunity to promote sustainable rural development since land-use projects that sequester carbon in soils can help reverse declining soil fertility, a root cause of stagnant agricultural productivity. This paper reviews the process leading to current CDM implementation rules and describes how the rules, in combination with challenging features of land-use projects, raise transaction costs and lower demand for land-use credits. Procedures by which developed countries assess their own mitigation performance are discussed as a way of redressing current constraints on CDM investments. Nevertheless, even with improvements to the CDM, an under-investment in agricultural land-use projects is likely, since there are hurdles to capturing associated ancillary benefits privately. Alternative approaches outside the CDM are discussed, including those that build on recent decisions taken by governments in Copenhagen and Cancun.

Palabras clave

ABATEMENT COSTS, ACCOUNTING, AFFORESTATION, AFFORESTATION PROJECTS, AGGREGATE EMISSION, AGGREGATE EMISSIONS, AGGREGATE SUPPLY, AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES, AGRICULTURAL OUTPUT, AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION, AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS, AIR, AIR QUALITY, ALTERNATIVE ENERGY, ALTERNATIVE FUELS, ANIMAL WASTES, ANTHROPOGENIC EMISSIONS, ATMOSPHERE, ATMOSPHERIC CARBON, BASE-YEAR EMISSIONS, BIO-ENERGY, BIOCHEMISTRY, BIOGAS, BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY, BIOMASS, BIOMASS ENERGY, BURNING BIOMASS, CALCULATION, CAPITAL FLOWS, CARBON, CARBON ABATEMENT, CARBON CREDITS, CARBON DIOXIDE, CARBON EMISSION, CARBON EMISSIONS, CARBON IN SOILS, CARBON INVENTORIES, CARBON MARKET, CARBON MARKETS, CARBON MITIGATION, CARBON OFFSETS, CARBON POOLS, CARBON PRICES, CARBON SEQUESTRATION, CARBON STOCKS, CARBON TAX, CARBON TECHNOLOGIES, CARBON UPTAKE, CH4, CHANGES IN LAND USE, CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS, CLEAN DEVELOPMENT MECHANISM, CLEAN TECHNOLOGY, CLIMATE, CLIMATE CHANGE, CLIMATE POLICY, CLIMATE RESEARCH, CLIMATIC CHANGE, CO, CO2, COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS, COMPOST, COMPOSTING, COST OF CAPITAL, CROWDING OUT, DEFORESTATION, DEGRADED LAND, DEGRADED LANDS, DESERTIFICATION, DEVELOPED COUNTRIES, DIFFUSION, DOMESTIC EMISSIONS, ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS, ECOLOGY, ECONOMIC CONDITIONS, ECONOMICS, ECOSYSTEM, EFFECTIVE STRATEGY, ELECTRIC POWER, ELECTRICITY, ELECTRICITY GENERATION, EMERGING MARKETS, EMISSION, EMISSION LIMITS, EMISSION PERMITS, EMISSION REDUCTION, EMISSION REDUCTION UNITS, EMISSION REDUCTIONS, EMISSION TARGETS, EMISSION TRADING, EMISSIONS FROM AGRICULTURE, EMISSIONS FROM DEFORESTATION, ENERGY BUILDINGS, ENERGY EFFICIENCY, ENVIRONMENTAL, ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS, ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS, ENVIRONMENTAL INTEGRITY, ENVIRONMENTAL LAW, ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS, ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY, ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES, EQUILIBRIUM, FERTILIZERS, FIXED COSTS, FLOODS, FOOD PRODUCTION, FOREST, FOREST CARBON, FOREST DEGRADATION, FOREST FIRES, FOREST INVESTMENT, FOREST MANAGEMENT, FORESTRY, FORESTRY PROJECTS, FORESTS, FOSSIL FUEL, FOSSIL FUELS, FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE, FUEL SWITCHING, GASIFICATION, GHG, GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT, GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT FACILITY, GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL FACILITY, GLOBAL WARMING, GLOBAL WARMING POTENTIAL, GOLD, GREENHOUSE, GREENHOUSE GAS, GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS, GREENHOUSE GAS INVENTORIES, GREENHOUSE GAS MITIGATION, GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION, GREENHOUSE GASES, GREENHOUSE GASSES, HEATING SYSTEMS, HFCS, HYDROFLUOROCARBONS, INCOME, INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, INSURANCE, INTERNATIONAL EMISSIONS, INVENTORY, IPCC, LAND DEGRADATION, LAND ECONOMICS, LAND RESOURCES, LAND USE, LAND USE CHANGE, LAND-USE EMISSION, LANDFILL, LANDFILL GAS, LOCAL GOVERNMENT, LOGGING, LOW-CARBON, MANDATES, MANURE, MEMBER STATES, METHANE, METHANE EMISSIONS, MITIGATION POTENTIAL, MULTILATERAL DEVELOPMENT BANKS, N2O, NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS, NATURAL ENVIRONMENT, NATURAL RESOURCES, NITROGEN, NITROGEN FERTILIZERS, NITROUS OXIDE, NUTRIENTS, OIL, OIL PALM, ORGANIC CARBON, ORGANIC MATERIAL, ORGANIC MATTER, ORGANIC POLLUTANTS, ORGANIC WASTE, PENALTIES, PERFLUOROCARBONS, PESTICIDES, PFCS, PHOTOSYNTHESIS, POLLUTION, POSITIVE EXTERNALITIES, PP, PRODUCTION COSTS, PRODUCTIVITY, PROFITABILITY, PROPERTY RIGHTS, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT BANKS, RENEWABLE ENERGY, RENEWABLE RESOURCE, RENEWABLE SOURCES, RESOURCE CONSERVATION, RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, RISK MANAGEMENT, SAVINGS, SINK, SOIL CARBON, STREAMS, SUGAR CANE, SULPHUR, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE, TECHNOLOGY TRANSFERS, THERMAL POWER, TRADABLE PERMITS, TRANSACTION COSTS, TRANSPORT, TROPICAL DEFORESTATION, TROPICAL FOREST, TRUST FUNDS, UNEP, WASTE PRODUCTS, WATER QUALITY, WATER SUPPLY, WELFARE GAINS, WELFARE LOSSES, WILLINGNESS TO PAY, WIND, WIND-ENERGY