Offset Reform Could Drive Investments in Nature-Based Climate Solutions

As recent events have shown, the impact of climate change on affordability for California households substantially dominates the cost of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. An important opportunity to mitigate emissions exists on natural and working lands. These investments also can improve the state’s resilience to the changing climate. These opportunities are not directly regulated under the carbon market because of the difficulty in monitoring and enforcing regulatory actions. Instead, the market directs investments through the offset program. A potential reform to the offsets program could yield additional hundreds of millions of dollars for the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to drive further investments.