Carbon Credits for forestry
October 19, 2007
The October MMW email udpate included a feature story on carbon credits for forestry. Carbon credits are currently traded on the Chicago Climate Exchange, and standards and criteria are in development. At least for now, growing timber in plantings established after 1990 is eligible for carbon credit trading.
No Minnesota woodland owners (that we know of) are yet receiving carbon credit payments. The system is still in development, and it’s uncertain whether forestry activities will ultimately be eligible.
With that in mind, was this story premature? Maybe. We went with it now because we wanted to make sure that family forest owners and professional foresters in Minnesota are aware of this issue. The potential carbon credit payments are significant - about $12 per acre on average in Minnesota - and this is an important time for interested individuals and organizations to weigh in as standards and criteria are being developed.
We hope the story will encourage action to help ensure that growing wood will be recognized in carbon credit markets for its value in reducing atmospheric carbon and helping to mitigate the impacts of carbon emissions.
You can read the new content at our carbon credits page.
-eli
Entry Filed under: carbon credits, content, financial aspects, new content. .
1 Comment Add your own
Leave a Comment
Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed
1.
Todd Parker | March 21, 2008 at 1:34 pm
The problem of Minnesota landowners not recieving carbon credits may soon come to an end. The Delta Institute recently enrolled two lands from Minnesota in our managed forest carbon program. Before these lands can receive carbon credits, they must be certified by a 3rd party. In our Michigan program, all the participating landowners enroll in a “Certified Group” through the American Tree Farm System. “Certified Groups” are typically held by consulting foresters, who ensure that the properties follow program guidlines and their management plans. Unfortunately, there are no Certified Groups in Minnesota! Before Minnesota landowners can earn carbon credits, we need a few foresters to form Certified Groups. By doing, foresters will distinguish themselves from the competition and generate addition revenue through forest inventories and management plan writing.
So, we are close to bringing carbon credit revenue to Minnesota. If you need more incentive, the Michigan Forest Landowners in our pool could collective earn more than $500,000 from carbon credit sales this year!
Todd Parker
Delta Institute