Forests, Ag.

, Carbon, and Risk

Chronicle of a Storm Foretold
EKO Asset Management Partners
The Ecosystem Services
Provisioning
Food
Fiber
Genetic resources
Biochemicals
Fresh Water

Cultural Services
Spiritual and religious values
Aesthetic values
Recreation and ecotourism
The Ecosystem Services

Regulating Services
Air quality regulation
Climate regulation
Water regulation
Erosion regulation
Water purification
Waste treatment
Disease regulation
Pest regulation
Pollination
Natural hazard regulation
Who are we Really?
We Know the Problem...
We are experiencing global climatic
disruption

The disruption and its impacts are

growing more rapidly than the scientific
consensus predicted

Serious harm is occurring as a result

We know what is causing it - GHG

emissions - and emissions are growing
faster than we thought

We need to both reduce energy-related

GHG emissions AND increase uptake of
CO2 by land-based sinks
Green Carbon
Forests, agriculture and soil carbon offsets have historically been
excluded from the carbon market

Green carbon is now considered part of the solution:

International recognition that forestry and ag carbon make up 25-30% of global

GHG problem (around 6-7% in the US)
Green carbon a major part of proposed federal carbon market and already a
part of Californias compliance market
Ag states and interests have a powerful voice in US legislative process - used it
to shape the Waxman-Markey Bill, changing the politics of climate change
Agriculture is Central Issue
A More Inexpensive Solution...
Role of Forests, Soil and Ag
Play a crucial role both as source of emissions
and sinks (sequester emissions)
Landowners and farmers are critical
stakeholders in the political process
As a sink, have a tremendous role to play in
balancing carbon flows:
Reducing emissions is not enough
Need to reduce atmospheric concentrations of
CO2
Sinks are a key part of the solution to reverse build
up of GHGs

As part of a market based solution to climate

change, green carbon tons are under-utilized
Creating a Carbon Credit

Validation of
Project Registration
project
design of project
design

Monitoring
Verification Issuance of
of project
of project credits
activity
Types of Offsets for Investment
Forestry
Agricultural practice changes
Sustainable forest management
Conservation tillage / No-till

Crop rotations
Afforestation / Reforestation

Modified fertilizer techniques

Avoided deforestation

Winter cover crops Other land-use changes

Perennial crops Grasslands restoration
Biochar Rangeland management

Wetlands restoration / peat bogs

Ag Methodologies
Submitting methodologies for soil, rangeland
management in next few months (VCS, ACR)

Agricultural practice methodologies further

away (Biochar, Soil, other)

Only existing methodologies on ag are in the

CCX and Alberta

CCX methodologies have been widely

criticized and not likely to survive untouched

Working with coalition of scientists, NGOs,

agricultural concerns, and others to generate
workable methodologies (C-AGG)
Standards and Methodologies
CAR, ACR, VCS

CAR Protocols for Forestry

Afforestation
Sustainable forestry management
Forest conservation

No protocols yet on Ag

CAR in the process of commissioning White

Paper that could lead to protocol

Broader networks/coalition (C, T, and M-

AGG)
In Short...
We see two key trends:
US building a $100b carbon
market from scratch

Renewed interest in Green

Carbon (i.e. forests, soil, and
agriculture as sources and sinks)

EKO will work with clients

to help them profit from
these trends, opportunities
that may soon disappear
Galileo Galilei
What greater stupidity can be imagined
than calling jewels, silver, and gold
precious and earth and soil base?
People who do this ought to remember
that if there were a greater scarcity of
soil as of jewels or precious metals,
there would not be a prince who would
not spend a bushel of diamonds... to
have enough soil to plant a jasmine in a
little pot, or to sow an orange seed and
watch it sprout, grow and produce its
handsome leaves, it fragrant flowers, its
fine fruit.
In theory there is no difference
between theory and practice.

... In practice there is.

Yogi Berra
Where are We?
Where are We?
Where are We?