Valuing Forest Carbon Offsets with Wildfire Risk
Author Information
Author(s): Matthew D Hurteau, Bruce A Hungate, George W Koch
Primary Institution: Department of Biological Sciences and Merriam-Powell Center for Environmental Research, Northern Arizona University
Hypothesis
Incorporating wildfire risk will change the valuation of forest carbon offsets.
Conclusion
Carbon trading mechanisms should consider the reduction in value associated with disturbance risk.
Supporting Evidence
- Forests in the U.S. sequester about 10% of annual emissions.
- The value of forest carbon can decrease by up to 99% when wildfire risk is considered.
- Carbon trading mechanisms currently do not account for the risk of carbon loss from disturbances.
Takeaway
Forests help clean the air by storing carbon, but if they catch fire, they can lose a lot of that stored carbon. This study shows that we need to think about fire risk when deciding how much carbon forests are worth.
Methodology
The study used fire regime condition class departure index and mean fire return interval data to assess the market value of forest carbon based on wildfire risk.
Limitations
The methodology relies on existing data which may not capture all variables affecting carbon loss.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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