Regional Forest Offsets Under RGGI

Background

The overwhelming proportion of forested land in northern New England and Eastern Canada is harvested for the forest products industry, and this is a key part of the economy for...
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RGGI, the nation’s only mandatory carbon cap and trade program, allows for five categories of sequestration or emissions reductions to qualify for funding to “offset” carbon emissions from power plants. Of these five, “afforestation,” the planting of new trees, is the only forestry offset project type recognized. The opportunity to increase carbon sequestration through afforestation is important but very limited in the northeast. There are additional and more available ways to reduce emissions and increase carbon storage in northeast forests that should also qualify for offset payments. These include two major methods: 1) sustainably managing forests to increase carbon storage, and 2) conserving forests threatened with development. In addition to reducing greenhouse gases and potentially providing revenue through an offset system, improved forest management and forest conservation also have substantial co-benefits, in the form of clean water, biodiversity protection, and more resilient forests.
 

RGGI allows for the addition of other offset types – and the Memorandum of Understanding between participating states specifically recognizes forest management as an initial category to consider.  However, in order to meet RGGI standards, new offset types must demonstrate how they meet a rigorous “five-part test” to ensure that the projects truly increase carbon reductions: offsets must be real, additional, verifiable, enforceable, and permanent. ENE worked for two years with the Maine Forest Service (MFS), Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences to develop a detailed set of recommendations for new forest offset categories. We presented this forest offsets proposal to RGGI  in the summer of 2009, and our recommendations are currently under review by the agency.

Recommended Additional Forest Offset Types

• Forest management - Landowners would receive credit for long-term (99-year) increases in carbon storage on their property. 

• Avoided deforestation - Credit to landowners that permanently protect forests and retain carbon greater than what would normally be retained by typical development in the area.

• Urban and community forestry - Municipalities and other public institutions that manage trees would receive credit for planting and maintenance of street and park trees.

The comprehensive recommendations were subjected to extensive review by scientists, practitioners, agency personnel, and other experts in the field. They meet RGGI’s standards for ensuring that offsets represent real GHG reductions by emphasizing performance measures and setting out specific protocols for how projects would pass the five-part test.

ENE’s proposal sets out a credible and effective approach for forest offsets in RGGI and also provides a valuable precedent for federal policy. Proposed climate legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives (the American Clean Energy and Security Act or ACES) and under consideration in the U.S. Senate provides for an extensive amount of offsets, both national and international, to meet carbon emission reduction levels.  Real emissions reductions will only occur if the offsets program is rigorously crafted along the lines of the RGGI five-part test and the ENE forest offset recommendations.  Please read more about ENE's federal forest policy work.