scholarly journals Forest carbon offsets over a smart ledger

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karlygash Kuralbayeva
Keyword(s):  
Technology Use ◽  
Carbon Offsets ◽  
Crucial Aspect ◽  
Policy Action ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Net Zero ◽  
Forest Carbon Offsets ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Voluntary Market ◽  
Modern Technologies

2021 has seen increasing climate policy action and net-zero commitments by individuals, companies and governments. A crucial aspect for the transition to net-zero is the voluntary offset market, with projects relating to REDD+ amongst the most popular. Policy-makers are grappling to make such markets efficient and scalable, however, many issues undermine these efforts pertaining to additionality, permanence, leakage and property and community rights. Digitisation has also accelerated, with technologies, notably blockchain, starting to enter the climate change space. Its use is becoming increasingly common within the voluntary market and, in particular, REDD+, although such projects, are generally in proposal or pilot stages. Given the emergence of other technologies such as AI and machine learning, the technologisation of REDD+ is only likely to increase. Thus modern technologies are being seen by developers as a potential solution to issues hindering REDD+. Potential benefits arising from technology use are unlikely to fully accrue without a wider focus on what has undermined REDD+ to date. As such, there is an urgency to establish an understanding of how projects can utilise these technologies to reduce long-standing issues. To do this, we discuss these issues together with technologies’ capacity to address drawbacks of REDD+ projects

scholarly journals Forest carbon offsets over a smart ledger

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grammateia Kotsialou ◽  
Karlygash Kuralbayeva ◽  
Timothy Laing
Keyword(s):  
Technology Use ◽  
Carbon Offsets ◽  
Crucial Aspect ◽  
Policy Action ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Net Zero ◽  
Forest Carbon Offsets ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Voluntary Market ◽  
Modern Technologies

2021 has seen increasing climate policy action and net-zero commitments by individuals, companies and governments. A crucial aspect for the transition to net-zero is the voluntary offset market, with projects relating to REDD+ amongst the most popular. Policy-makers are grappling to make such markets efficient and scalable, however, many issues undermine these efforts pertaining to additionality, permanence, leakage and property and community rights. Digitisation has also accelerated, with technologies, notably blockchain, starting to enter the climate change space. Its use is becoming increasingly common within the voluntary market and, in particular, REDD+, although such projects, are generally in proposal or pilot stages. Given the emergence of other technologies such as AI and machine learning, the technologisation of REDD+ is only likely to increase. Thus modern technologies are being seen by developers as a potential solution to issues hindering REDD+. Potential benefits arising from technology use are unlikely to fully accrue without a wider focus on what has undermined REDD+ to date. As such, there is an urgency to establish an understanding of how projects can utilise these technologies to reduce long-standing issues. To do this, we discuss these issues together with technologies’ capacity to address drawbacks of REDD+ projects.

scholarly journals Systematic over-crediting in California’s forest carbon offsets program

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grayson Badgley ◽  
Jeremy Freeman ◽  
Joseph J. Hamman ◽  
Barbara Haya ◽  
Anna T. Trugman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Adverse Selection ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Carbon Stocks ◽  
Forest Carbon ◽  
Carbon Offsets ◽  
Inventory Data ◽  
Market Prices ◽  
Net Zero ◽  
Forest Carbon Offsets ◽  
Policy Objectives

AbstractCarbon offsets are widely used by individuals, corporations, and governments to mitigate their greenhouse gas emissions on the assumption that offsets reflect equivalent climate benefits achieved elsewhere. These climate-equivalence claims depend on offsets providing “additional” climate benefits beyond what would have happened, counterfactually, without the offsets project. Here, we evaluate the design of California’s prominent forest carbon offsets program and demonstrate that its climate-equivalence claims fall far short on the basis of directly observable evidence. By design, California’s program awards large volumes of offset credits to forest projects with carbon stocks that exceed regional averages. This paradigm allows for adverse selection, which could occur if project developers preferentially select forests that are ecologically distinct from unrepresentative regional averages. By digitizing and analyzing comprehensive offset project records alongside detailed forest inventory data, we provide direct evidence that comparing projects against coarse regional carbon averages has led to systematic over-crediting of 30.0 million tCO2e (90% CI: 20.5 to 38.6 million tCO2e) or 29.4% of the credits we analyzed (90% CI: 20.1 to 37.8%). These excess credits are worth an estimated $410 million (90% CI: $280 to $528 million) at recent market prices. Rather than improve forest management to store additional carbon, California’s offsets program creates incentives to generate offset credits that do not reflect real climate benefits.Significance StatementForest carbon offsets are increasingly prominent in corporate and government “net zero” emission strategies, but face growing criticism about their efficacy. California’s forest offsets program is frequently promoted as a high-quality approach that improves on the failures of earlier efforts. Our analysis demonstrates, however, that substantial ecological and statistical shortcomings in the design of California’s forest offset protocol generate offset credits that do not reflect real climate benefits. Looking globally, our results illustrate how protocol designs with easily exploitable rules can undermine policy objectives and highlight the need for stronger governance in carbon offset markets.

scholarly journals Domain Experts on Dementia-Care Technologies: Mitigating Risk in Design and Implementation

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Clara Berridge ◽  
George Demiris ◽  
Jeffrey Kaye
Keyword(s):  
Delphi Study ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Dementia Care ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Domain Experts ◽  
Delphi Approach ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Detailed List ◽  
And Control

AbstractThere is an urgent need to learn how to appropriately integrate technologies into dementia care. The aims of this Delphi study were to project which technologies will be most prevalent in dementia care in five years, articulate potential benefits and risks, and identify specific options to mitigate risks. Participants were also asked to identify technologies that are most likely to cause value tensions and thus most warrant a conversation with an older person with mild dementia when families are deciding about their use. Twenty-one interdisciplinary domain experts from academia and industry in aging and technology in the U.S. and Canada participated in a two-round online survey using the Delphi approach with an 84% response rate and no attrition between rounds. Rankings were analyzed using frequency counts and written-in responses were thematically analyzed. Twelve technology categories were identified along with a detailed list of risks and benefits for each. Suggestions to mitigate the most commonly raised risks are categorized as follows: intervene during design, make specific technical choices, build in choice and control, require data transparency, place restrictions on data use and ensure security, enable informed consent, and proactively educate users. This study provides information that is needed to navigate person-centered technology use in dementia care. The specific recommendations participants offered are relevant to designers, clinicians, researchers, ethicists, and policy makers and require proactive engagement from design through implementation.

scholarly journals SELF-EMPLOYMENT AND BUSINESS CYCLES: SEARCHING FOR ASYMMETRIES IN A PANEL OF 23 OECD COUNTRIES

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 1155-1171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mónica CARMONA ◽  
Emilio CONGREGADO ◽  
Antonio A. GOLPE ◽  
Jesus IGLESIAS
Keyword(s):  
Output Growth ◽  
Real Economy ◽  
Policy Action ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Promotion Policy ◽  
Self Employment ◽  
Asymmetric Impact ◽  
The Business Cycle ◽  
Output Gaps ◽  
Threshold Regression Model

The aim of this work is to identify whether the bidirectional relationship between entrepreneurship cycles and output gaps is asymmetric depending on the phase of the business cycle. To this end, we employ a panel threshold regression model in which different relations can prevail in each regime, defined by the values of the threshold variable. The findings of this article qualify previous empirical results. In particular, our estimates provide support for the existence of different responses – both in terms of sign and magnitude – of cyclical self-employment to output growth and of output growth to cyclical self-employment, depending on the value of the threshold variable. The result is highly important for policy makers and practitioners given that whether they ignore the asymmetric impact that an entrepreneurship promotion policy action might have on the real economy, the action might lead to unexpected effects.

scholarly journals Development of the banking sector on the basis of modern technologies of service

2018 ◽  
pp. 26-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. M. Ermolenko
Keyword(s):  
Technology Use ◽  
Commercial Banks ◽  
Banking Sector ◽  
Innovation Activity ◽  
Financial Intermediaries ◽  
Credit Institution ◽  
Banking Services ◽  
Modern Technologies

The article discusses the main technologies of banking services that determine the quality and level of interaction between banks and customers, as well as to determine the level of innovation and attractiveness of the functioning of commercial banks in the market of banking products and services. Each credit institution forms its strategy taking into account its financial capabilities and the level of technology use, so the provision of new and the most attractive innovations allows banks not only to minimize the level of costs, and increase their activity as financial intermediaries. In addition, at the level of increased competition, all banks are not just trying to keep customers, but also to entice them from other banks, which also determines the level of innovation activity of the Bank. All this determines the main vector of development of the banking sector.

scholarly journals California air resources board forest carbon protocol invalidates offsets

PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e7606 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno D.V. Marino ◽  
Martina Mincheva ◽  
Aaron Doucett
Keyword(s):  
Null Hypothesis ◽  
Model Simulation ◽  
Ecosystem Respiration ◽  
Forest Degradation ◽  
Forest Carbon ◽  
Carbon Offsets ◽  
Carbon Accounting ◽  
Population Mean ◽  
Forest Carbon Offsets ◽  
Commercial Forest

The commercial asset value of sequestered forest carbon is based on protocols employed globally; however, their scientific basis has not been validated. We review and analyze commercial forest carbon protocols, claimed to have reduced net greenhouse gas emissions, issued by the California Air Resources Board and validated by the Climate Action Reserve (CARB-CAR). CARB-CAR forest carbon offsets, based on forest mensuration and model simulation, are compared to a global database of directly measured forest carbon sequestration, or net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of forest CO2. NEE is a meteorologically based method integrating CO2 fluxes between the atmosphere, forest and soils and is independent of the CARB-CAR methodology. Annual carbon accounting results for CAR681 are compared with NEE for the Ameriflux site, Howland Forest Maine, USA, (Ho-1), the only site where both methods were applied contemporaneously, invalidating CARB-CAR protocol offsets. We then test the null hypothesis that CARB-CAR project population data fall within global NEE population values for natural and managed forests measured in the field; net annual gC m−2yr−1 are compared for both protocols. Irrespective of geography, biome and project type, the CARB-CAR population mean is significantly different from the NEE population mean at the 95% confidence interval, rejecting the null hypothesis. The CARB-CAR population exhibits standard deviation ∼5× that of known interannual NEE ranges, is overcrediting biased, incapable of detecting forest transition to net positive CO2 emissions, and exceeds the 5% CARB compliance limit for invalidation. Exclusion of CO2 efflux via soil and ecosystem respiration precludes a valid net carbon accounting result for CARB-CAR and related protocols, consistent with our findings. Protocol invalidation risk extends to vendors and policy platforms such as the United Nations Program on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) and the Paris Agreement. We suggest that CARB-CAR and related protocols include NEE methodology for commercial forest carbon offsets to standardize methods, ensure in situ molecular specificity, verify claims of carbon emission reduction and harmonize carbon protocols for voluntary and compliance markets worldwide.

scholarly journals Evolution of models to support community and policy action with science: Balancing pastoral livelihoods and wildlife conservation in savannas of East Africa

2009 ◽  
Vol 113 (17) ◽  
pp. 4579-4584 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. S. Reid ◽  
D. Nkedianye ◽  
M. Y. Said ◽  
D. Kaelo ◽  
M. Neselle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
East Africa ◽  
Policy Maker ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Wildlife Conservation ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Policy Action ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Creation

We developed a “continual engagement” model to better integrate knowledge from policy makers, communities, and researchers with the goal of promoting more effective action to balance poverty alleviation and wildlife conservation in 4 pastoral ecosystems of East Africa. The model involved the creation of a core boundary-spanning team, including community facilitators, a policy facilitator, and transdisciplinary researchers, responsible for linking with a wide range of actors from local to global scales. Collaborative researcher−facilitator community teams integrated local and scientific knowledge to help communities and policy makers improve herd quality and health, expand biodiversity payment schemes, develop land-use plans, and fully engage together in pastoral and wildlife policy development. This model focused on the creation of hybrid scientific−local knowledge highly relevant to community and policy maker needs. The facilitation team learned to be more effective by focusing on noncontroversial livelihood issues before addressing more difficult wildlife issues, using strategic and periodic engagement with most partners instead of continual engagement, and reducing costs by providing new scientific information only when deemed essential. We conclude by examining the role of facilitation in redressing asymmetries in power in researcher−community−policy maker teams, the role of individual values and character in establishing trust, and how to sustain knowledge-action links when project funding ends.

The Audit Market Dynamics in a Mandatory Joint Audit Setting: The French Experience

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 463-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lamya Kermiche ◽  
Charles Piot
Keyword(s):  
Market Concentration ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Audit System ◽  
Audit Market ◽  
Big 4 ◽  
Long Run ◽  
French Experience ◽  
Economic Support ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Potential Benefits

Policy makers in France have considered joint audits as a solution to mitigate the audit market concentration and the “systemic” risk associated with Big 4 auditors. We implement a Markovian analysis where audit clients chose between different types of combinations across Big 4 and smaller auditors. Our main findings support the view that the French joint audit system is effective in maintaining market openness and in mitigating the Big 4 domination in the long run. An investigation of the determinants driving changes in joint audit combinations suggests little economic support in favor of two Big 4 combinations, whereas changes in audit clients’ agency costs (e.g., higher ownership concentration) tend to explain the performance of mixed and two non-Big 4 combinations. Overall, this study supports the European Commission’s position on the potential benefits of joint audits in mitigating the market concentration; it also suggests that it might not be necessary to impose mixed joint audits to achieve that objective.

Internationalization of Higher Education: Potential Benefits and Costs

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tahira Jibeen ◽  
Masha Asad Khan
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Quality Education ◽  
Internationalization Of Higher Education ◽  
Quality Of Education ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Current Review ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Benefits And Costs

<div><p class="Els-Abstract-head">Abstract</p></div><p>Internationalization of higher education is the top stage of international relations among universities and it is no longer regarded as a goal in itself, but as a means to improve the quality of education.  The knowledge translation and acquisition, mobilization of talent in support of global research and enchantment of the curriculum with international content are considered to be the benefits of internationalization of higher education. Though, internationalization holds many positives to higher education, there are grave risks associated with this multifaceted and growing phenomenon. Negative aspects include commercial profit, academic colonization and difficulty in ensuring quality education. The current review has implications for educational policy makers to ensure positive and reciprocal benefits to the higher education institutions and the countries concerned.</p><p> </p>

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