Carbon Credit Systems in Alberta Agriculture
The Pan-Canadian Framework was implemented in 2016 to help meet emission reduction targets set out by the Paris Agreement. Carbon pricing is at the foundation of this framework, where Alberta has used a carbon-credit market to reduce emissions from large-scale emitters. Agricultural producers v...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Calgary
2023-07-01
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| Series: | The School of Public Policy Publications |
| Online Access: | https://dev.journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/sppp/article/view/74577 |
| _version_ | 1826930956599033856 |
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| author | Sarah Van Wyngaarden |
| author_facet | Sarah Van Wyngaarden |
| author_sort | Sarah Van Wyngaarden |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
The Pan-Canadian Framework was implemented in 2016 to help meet emission reduction targets set out by the Paris Agreement. Carbon pricing is at the foundation of this framework, where Alberta has used a carbon-credit market to reduce
emissions from large-scale emitters. Agricultural producers voluntarily participate in these markets through agricultural carbon offset protocols; regulated emitters can purchase agricultural carbon credits to meet their emission reduction requirements. The main goal of these agricultural protocols is to reduce on-farm emissions through the adoption of best management practices (BMPs), alongside providing producers with the potential benefit of earning additional revenue by selling carbon credits on the market. While producers have participated in the market for quite some time, the impact of the market on Alberta agricultural producers is unknown. The main objective of this paper is to understand this impact by analyzing two considerations: 1) emission reductions (or removals) from agricultural protocols; and 2) economic benefits to producers from participating in the carbon offset market. After a case study of
current agricultural carbon offset protocols, the results suggest producers are mainly participating for the economic benefits stemming from the adoption of BMPs, rather than the potential revenue from selling carbon credits on the market. Results also show protocols have high emission reduction potential, but this analysis was limited due to a lack of publicly available data. The most significant observation is that the majority of protocol emission reductions come from one protocol, the Conservation Cropping Protocol. The remaining agricultural protocols have seen minimal uptake
in participation, specifically from livestock producers, which is concerning given the retirement of the Conservation Cropping Protocol on December 31, 2021. The main consideration will be addressing current protocol shortcomings to ensure producers are willing and able to participate in the market.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T22:47:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3bd3feb3e18d479bb56e5d12a80edcb5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2560-8312 2560-8320 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-02-17T16:37:21Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | University of Calgary |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The School of Public Policy Publications |
| spelling | doaj.art-3bd3feb3e18d479bb56e5d12a80edcb52024-12-16T17:50:45ZengUniversity of CalgaryThe School of Public Policy Publications2560-83122560-83202023-07-01151Carbon Credit Systems in Alberta AgricultureSarah Van Wyngaarden The Pan-Canadian Framework was implemented in 2016 to help meet emission reduction targets set out by the Paris Agreement. Carbon pricing is at the foundation of this framework, where Alberta has used a carbon-credit market to reduce emissions from large-scale emitters. Agricultural producers voluntarily participate in these markets through agricultural carbon offset protocols; regulated emitters can purchase agricultural carbon credits to meet their emission reduction requirements. The main goal of these agricultural protocols is to reduce on-farm emissions through the adoption of best management practices (BMPs), alongside providing producers with the potential benefit of earning additional revenue by selling carbon credits on the market. While producers have participated in the market for quite some time, the impact of the market on Alberta agricultural producers is unknown. The main objective of this paper is to understand this impact by analyzing two considerations: 1) emission reductions (or removals) from agricultural protocols; and 2) economic benefits to producers from participating in the carbon offset market. After a case study of current agricultural carbon offset protocols, the results suggest producers are mainly participating for the economic benefits stemming from the adoption of BMPs, rather than the potential revenue from selling carbon credits on the market. Results also show protocols have high emission reduction potential, but this analysis was limited due to a lack of publicly available data. The most significant observation is that the majority of protocol emission reductions come from one protocol, the Conservation Cropping Protocol. The remaining agricultural protocols have seen minimal uptake in participation, specifically from livestock producers, which is concerning given the retirement of the Conservation Cropping Protocol on December 31, 2021. The main consideration will be addressing current protocol shortcomings to ensure producers are willing and able to participate in the market. https://dev.journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/sppp/article/view/74577 |
| spellingShingle | Sarah Van Wyngaarden Carbon Credit Systems in Alberta Agriculture The School of Public Policy Publications |
| title | Carbon Credit Systems in Alberta Agriculture |
| title_full | Carbon Credit Systems in Alberta Agriculture |
| title_fullStr | Carbon Credit Systems in Alberta Agriculture |
| title_full_unstemmed | Carbon Credit Systems in Alberta Agriculture |
| title_short | Carbon Credit Systems in Alberta Agriculture |
| title_sort | carbon credit systems in alberta agriculture |
| url | https://dev.journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/sppp/article/view/74577 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT sarahvanwyngaarden carboncreditsystemsinalbertaagriculture |