Agree. Forests can never draw down more carbon than what prior deforestation released (not without loss of agricultural land) and must top out (bottom out?) when total absorption equals carbon released from decomposition and fire - a new faux-natural balance.
It helps a bit and there are very good reasons to encourage reforestation as well as protection of existing forests but it doesn't address or offset fossil fuel emissions in any way; at best, arguably, it 'offsets' deforestation, a land use emission. Carbon trading is a way of NOT reducing emissions and not an emissions solution at all. It is scam and distraction.
Carbon trading cannot be reformed. It will always be a dangerous distraction from meaningful climate action.
The only two real terrestrial carbon offsets are increase in soil carbon mainly in agriculture and reforestation and we are currently doing the opposite of both. We passed the threshold of using forestry offsets when carbon in the atmosphere passed concentrations that would take a lifetime to reabsorb. I read an interesting report that if we put this offset money into modernizing everything instead we will be a lot better off, but i am not even convinced that co2 is the real problem except for ocean acidification as our focus should be on desertification and soil life and moisture.
Agree. Forests can never draw down more carbon than what prior deforestation released (not without loss of agricultural land) and must top out (bottom out?) when total absorption equals carbon released from decomposition and fire - a new faux-natural balance.
It helps a bit and there are very good reasons to encourage reforestation as well as protection of existing forests but it doesn't address or offset fossil fuel emissions in any way; at best, arguably, it 'offsets' deforestation, a land use emission. Carbon trading is a way of NOT reducing emissions and not an emissions solution at all. It is scam and distraction.
Carbon trading cannot be reformed. It will always be a dangerous distraction from meaningful climate action.
The only two real terrestrial carbon offsets are increase in soil carbon mainly in agriculture and reforestation and we are currently doing the opposite of both. We passed the threshold of using forestry offsets when carbon in the atmosphere passed concentrations that would take a lifetime to reabsorb. I read an interesting report that if we put this offset money into modernizing everything instead we will be a lot better off, but i am not even convinced that co2 is the real problem except for ocean acidification as our focus should be on desertification and soil life and moisture.