IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/clh/techni/v15y2022i18.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Carbon Credit Systems in Alberta Agriculture

Author

Listed:
  • Sarah Van Wyngaarden

    (University of Alberta)

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Sarah Van Wyngaarden, 2022. "Carbon Credit Systems in Alberta Agriculture," SPP Technical Papers, The School of Public Policy, University of Calgary, vol. 15(18), June.
    • Handle: RePEc:clh:techni:v:15:y:2022:i:18
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.policyschool.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/JSC16_CarbonCreditSystemsABAgric.Wyngaarden.June9_.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lana Awada & Richard S. Gray & Cecil Nagy, 2016. "The Benefits and Costs of Zero Tillage RD&E on the Canadian Prairies," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 64(3), pages 417-438, September.
    2. David J. Pannell, 2008. "Public Benefits, Private Benefits, and Policy Mechanism Choice for Land-Use Change for Environmental Benefits," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 84(2), pages 225-240.
    3. Feather, Peter M. & Amacher, Gregory S., 1994. "Role of information in the adoption of best management practices for water quality improvement," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 11(2-3), pages 159-170, December.
    4. Kelly A. Davey & W. Hartley Furtan, 2008. "Factors That Affect the Adoption Decision of Conservation Tillage in the Prairie Region of Canada," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 56(3), pages 257-275, September.
    5. Tingting Liu & Randall J. F. Bruins & Matthew T. Heberling, 2018. "Factors Influencing Farmers’ Adoption of Best Management Practices: A Review and Synthesis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-26, February.
    6. Alfons Weersink & David Pannell & Murray Fulton & Andreas Meyer‐Aurich, 2005. "Agriculture's Likely Role in Meeting Canada's Kyoto Commitments," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 53(4), pages 425-441, December.
    7. Peter M. Feather & Gregory S. Amacher, 1994. "Role of information in the adoption of best management practices for water quality improvement," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 11(2-3), pages 159-170, December.
    8. Peter C. Boxall, 2018. "Evaluation of Agri†Environmental Programs: Can We Determine If We Grew Forward in an Environmentally Friendly Way?," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 66(2), pages 171-186, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Van Wyngaarden, Sarah & Anders, Sven M., 2021. "Canadian Farmer Policy and Agency Preferences in Agri-Environmental Best Management Practice Adoption," 2021 Annual Meeting, August 1-3, Austin, Texas 313851, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    2. Alberto Chong & Virgilio Galdo & Máximo Torero, 2005. "Does Privatization Deliver? Access to Telephone Services and Household Income in Poor Rural Areas Using a Quasi-Natural Experiment in Peru," Research Department Publications 4417, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    3. Anjani Kumar & Ashok K. Mishra & Sunil Saroj & Vinay K. Sonkar & Ganesh Thapa & Pramod K. Joshi, 2020. "Food safety measures and food security of smallholder dairy farmers: Empirical evidence from Bihar, India," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(3), pages 363-384, June.
    4. Emtage, Nicholas & Herbohn, John, 2012. "Assessing rural landholders diversity in the Wet Tropics region of Queensland, Australia in relation to natural resource management programs: A market segmentation approach," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 107-118.
    5. Alberto Chong & Virgilio Galdo & Máximo Torero, 2005. "¿Cumple la privatización lo que promete? El acceso a los servicios telefónicos y el ingreso familiar en zonas rurales pobres empleando un experimento cuasinatural en Perú," Research Department Publications 4418, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    6. Baidu-Forson, J., 1999. "Factors influencing adoption of land-enhancing technology in the Sahel: lessons from a case study in Niger," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 20(3), pages 231-239, May.
    7. Oscar Montes de Oca Munguia & Rick Llewellyn, 2020. "The Adopters versus the Technology: Which Matters More when Predicting or Explaining Adoption?," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(1), pages 80-91, March.
    8. Dimara, Efthalia & Skuras, Dimitris, 2003. "Adoption of agricultural innovations as a two-stage partial observability process," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 187-196, May.
    9. Pogue, Sarah J. & Kröbel, Roland & Janzen, H. Henry & Alemu, Aklilu W. & Beauchemin, Karen A. & Little, Shannan & Iravani, Majid & de Souza, Danielle Maia & McAllister, Tim A., 2020. "A social-ecological systems approach for the assessment of ecosystem services from beef production in the Canadian prairie," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    10. Collentine, Dennis & Larsson, Martin & Hannerz, Nils, 2004. "Exploiting decision heuristics and IT in the design of a DSS for voluntary agri-environmental programs," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 303-315, July.
    11. Lee, Young-Jae, 2008. "Theoretical Examination of the Conditions of Best Management Practices Adoption and the Easing of Trade Distortion for Sugar," 2008 Annual Meeting, February 2-6, 2008, Dallas, Texas 6826, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    12. Llewellyn, Rick S. & Lindner, Robert K. & Pannell, David J. & Powles, Stephen B., 2003. "Effective information and the influence of an extension event on perceptions and adoption," 2003 Conference (47th), February 12-14, 2003, Fremantle, Australia 57911, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    13. Luc Valentin & Daniel J. Bernardo & Terry L. Kastens, 2004. "Testing the Empirical Relationship between Best Management Practice Adoption and Farm Profitability," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 26(4), pages 489-504.
    14. Chong, Alberto E. & Galdo, Virgilio & Torero, Maximo, 2006. "Does Privatization Deliver? Access to Telephone Services and Household Income in Poor Rural Areas Using a Quasi-Natural Experiment for Peru," 2006 Annual Meeting, August 12-18, 2006, Queensland, Australia 25691, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    15. Dalton, Timothy J. & Lilja, Nina K. & Johnson, Nancy & Howeler, Reinhardt, 2011. "Farmer Participatory Research and Soil Conservation in Southeast Asian Cassava Systems," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 2176-2186.
    16. Daberkow, Stan G. & McBride, William D., 2001. "Information And The Adoption Of Precision Farming," 2001 Annual meeting, August 5-8, Chicago, IL 20556, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    17. Kelly J. Wendland & Erin O. Sills, 2008. "Dissemination of food crops with nutritional benefits: Adoption and disadoption of soybeans in Togo and Benin," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 32(1), pages 39-52, February.
    18. Amsalu, Aklilu & de Graaff, Jan, 2007. "Determinants of adoption and continued use of stone terraces for soil and water conservation in an Ethiopian highland watershed," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(2-3), pages 294-302, March.
    19. Asci, Serhat & Borisova, Tatiana & VanSickle, John J. & Zotarelli, Lincoln, 2012. "Risk and Nitrogen Application Decisions in Florida Potato Production," 2012 Annual Meeting, February 4-7, 2012, Birmingham, Alabama 119797, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    20. Nguyen, Genevieve & Corso, Jean-Pierre Del & Kephaliacos, Charilaos & Tavernier, Henri, 2013. "Pratiques agricoles pour la réduction des produits phytosanitaires. le rôle de l’apprentissage collectif," Économie rurale, French Society of Rural Economics (SFER Société Française d'Economie Rurale), vol. 333(January-F).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:clh:techni:v:15:y:2022:i:18. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Bev Dahlby (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/spcalca.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.