Carbon Sequestration

Interest in terrestrial carbon sequestration has increased in an effort to explore opportunities for climate change mitigation. Carbon sequestration is the process by which atmospheric carbon dioxide is taken up by trees, grasses, and other plants through photosynthesis and stored as carbon in biomass (trunks, branches, foliage, and roots) and soils. The sink of carbon sequestration in forests and wood products helps to offset sources of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, such as deforestation, forest fires, and fossil fuel emissions.

Sustainable forestry practices can increase the ability of forests to sequester atmospheric carbon while enhancing other ecosystem services, such as improved soil and water quality. Planting new trees and improving forest health through thinning and prescribed burning are some of the ways to increase forest carbon in the long run. Harvesting and regenerating forests can also result in net carbon sequestration in wood products and new forest growth.

In response to government, business, and individual commitments to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, carbon is now a priced environmental commodity in the global marketplace. The United States carbon market is in its formative stages. States and regions are developing climate change strategies and policy for reducing carbon dioxide emissions, and mandatory markets are forming at the regional and state levels. The Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Program, established by Section 1605(b) of the Energy Policy Act of 1992, provides a means for organizations and individuals - including forest landowners and other land managers - to record their baseline emissions and emission reductions.

Going carbon neutral…

The voluntary “retail” market is growing as more and more individuals and entities seek to purchase carbon offsets to reduce their greenhouse gas footprint or become “carbon neutral.” By allowing the broader public to engage in climate protection, the voluntary market advances societal awareness of climate change and the impacts of consumer behavior. Learn more:

• Forging a Frontier: State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets 2008 (Ecosystem Marketplace and New Carbon Finance 2008) ( PDF, 1.9 MB)
• State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets 2007: Picking Up Steam (Ecosystem Marketplace and New Carbon Finance 2007) ( PDF, 1.9 MB)
• Voluntary Carbon Markets: A Business Guide to What They Are and How They Work (Bayon, Hawn and Hamilton 2007)
• Voluntary Carbon Offsets Market: Outlook 2007 (ICF International 2007)
• A Consumer's Guide to Retail Carbon Offset Providers (Clean Air-Cool Planet 2006) ( PDF, 1.1 MB)
• Offsetting Emissions: A Business Brief on the Voluntary Carbon Market (Business for Social Responsibility and Ecosystem Marketplace 2006) ( PDF, 217 KB)
• Exploring the market for voluntary carbon offsets (Taiyab 2006) ( PDF, 195 KB)

Feature Publications

• Climate Change and Forests of the Future: Managing in the Face of Uncertainty (Millar, Stephenson, and Stephens 2007)( PDF, 143 KB)
• A Landowner's Guide to Carbon Sequestration Credits (Center for Integrated Natural Resources and Agricultural Management and The Commonwealth Project 2007)( PDF, 1.8 MB)
• Climate Change, Carbon, and the Forests of the Northeast (The Forest Guild 2007)( PDF, 1.4 MB)
• The Sustainable Forest Products Industry, Carbon and Climate Change (World Business Council on Sustainable Development 2007) ( PDF, 1.9 MB)
• The Role for Sustainably Managed Forests in Climate Change Mitigation (Ruddell et al. 2007) ( PDF, 84 KB)
• US Forest Carbon and Climate Change: Controversies and Win-Win Policy Approaches (The Wilderness Society 2007)
• Harnessing Farms and Forests in the Low-Carbon Economy: How to Create, Measure, and Verify Greenhouse Gas Offsets (Willey and Chameides, eds. 2007)
• Climate Change 2007 (IPCC)
• Methods for Calculating Forest Ecosystem and Harvested Carbon with Standard Estimates for Forest Types of the United States (Smith et al. 2006) ( PDF, 1.6 MB)
• Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change (Stern 2006)
• Forest Carbon Trading and Marketing in the United States (Ruddell et al. 2006) ( PDF, 140 KB)
• Carbon Accounting Rules and Guidelines for the United States Forest Sector (Birdsey 2006)
• State and Trends of the Carbon Market 2007 (World Bank Institute and IETA) ( PDF, 350 KB)
• The cost of U.S. forest-based carbon sequestration (Stavins and Richards 2005) ( PDF, 407 KB)
• Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Potential in U.S. Forestry and Agriculture (Murray 2005)
• Agricultural and Forestry Carbon Sequestration Projects: Challenges for Credible Registration (Sampson 2004) ( PDF, 34 KB)
• Climate Change and Agriculture: Impacts and Mitigation (Choices Magazine 2004)
• A Brief Overview of Carbon Sequestration Economics and Policy (Richards 2004) ( PDF, 439 KB)
• The Impact of Climate Change on America's Forests (Joyce and Birdsey 2000) ( PDF, 5.4 MB)

Helpful Websites

• California Climate Action Reserve
• The Carbon Mitigation Initiative
• Carbon Trading: A primer for forest landowners
• Chicago Climate Exchange
• The Climate Registry
• The Climate Trust
• Ducks Unlimited Carbon Sequestration Program
• GHG Protocol Initiative
• International Carbon Action Partnership (ICAP)
• Northern Institute of Applied Carbon Science
• The Pew Center on Global Climate Change
• Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
• The Sampson Group: Carbon Sequestration and Climate Change
• USDA Global Change Program Office
• U.S. EPA Climate Change: Carbon Sequestration in Agriculture and Forestry
• The Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Program: USDA
• Western Climate Initiative
• The World Bank Carbon Finance Unit