Common Resources

Counting Forests: Not Quite as Easy as 1,2,3

If you’ve recently had a conversation about the world’s forests and climate change, then you’ve probably heard the figure “20 percent” thrown around. That number represents the amount of worldwide emissions currently attributed to deforestation and forest degradation. If tropical rainforests have been a frequent topic of discussion in your social circles, maybe someone told […]

Overseeing Avoided Deforestation: Time for New Regulators?

After exploring some of the key questions in Waxman-Markey’s tropical conservation provisions here, Andrew teamed with RFF’s Nigel Purvis and Ray Kopp to write this issue brief proposing the creation of a new U.S. regulatory entity to the administration of international forest carbon offset program. According to authors, “Existing federal agencies are ill‐equipped to manage […]

Experts Explore Challenges in Offset Market Design

As the American Clean Energy and Security Act makes its way through the House Agriculture and Ways and Means Committees, offsets continue to crop up as a major point of contention. While understanding of offset markets matures, RFF continues to identify and address important economic and logistical issues of concern. Last month, RFF hosted a […]

Tropical Forest Conservation in Waxman-Markey

For many environmental advocates, the generous forest conservation provisions in the Waxman-Markey energy bill (summary here) are a no-brainer. They target one of the world’s largest—20 percent of the global total—and most cost-effective—about half the world’s deforestation at under $10 per-ton—sources of greenhouse gas emissions reductions while protecting some of the world’s most treasured natural […]