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Project AnalysisAgriculture and forestry activities that sequester carbon and reduce emissions of other greenhouse gases (GHGs) can be carried out through projects, which are typically discrete activities with clearly defined geographic boundaries, timeframes, and institutional frameworks.The Practices section of the Web site describes common agricultural and forestry activities that sequester carbon and reduce other GHGs. These same activities (e.g., tree planting, forest preservation, conservation tillage on croplands) may also be carried out as projects. This section of the Web site describes key issues associated with quantifying the GHG benefits of agricultural and forestry projects, especially when these projects are used as GHG offsets (i.e., used to offset another entity's GHG emissions). These key issues are:
The key U.S. Government policy process that is developing guidance for the voluntary reporting of GHG reductions through projects is the Enhancement of the Department of Energy's 1605(b) Voluntary Registry. Under this 1605(b) process, USDA is revising the voluntary guidelines for the reporting of agricultural and forestry sequestration and other GHG mitigation projects. Another process that is considering the issues related to carbon sequestration projects is the GHG Protocol Initiative for Project GHG Accounting and Reporting, co-convened by World Resources Institute and World Business Council for Sustainable Development. This Initiative is a multi-stakeholder process aiming to develop voluntary guidance for not only agricultural and forestry projects, but for GHG mitigation projects in all sectors of the economy. In addition, many organizations are active in establishing and assessing agricultural and forestry projects as GHG offsets. Some of these organizations are listed below. Note: All the below links will take you outside the EPA Web site. |
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