Premium
Agriculture's Likely Role in Meeting Canada's Kyoto Commitments *
Author(s) -
Weersink Alfons,
Pannell David,
Fulton Murray,
MeyerAurich Andreas
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
canadian journal of agricultural economics/revue canadienne d'agroeconomie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.505
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1744-7976
pISSN - 0008-3976
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-7976.2005.00028.x
Subject(s) - greenhouse gas , carbon offset , incentive , agriculture , natural resource economics , emissions trading , business , offset (computer science) , kyoto protocol , database transaction , carbon credit , transaction cost , agricultural economics , economics , finance , market economy , ecology , computer science , biology , programming language
Voluntary adoption of beneficial management practices will be the primary means by which farmers cut net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The offset system will not be a major driver due to (a) the relatively low prices likely to be offered by large final emitters facing an emission cap, (b) discounts applied to those prices for temporary sequestration, (c) the transaction costs and risk premiums associated with signing carbon contracts, and (d) the low elasticity of supply of CO 2 abatement. Although Canadian farmers are likely to participate to only a limited extent in the carbon‐offset market, many will find it profitable to adopt one or more of the BMPs for reducing net GHG emissions. Canadian agriculture is likely to contribute significantly to net emission reductions by voluntarily sequestering carbon due to the adoption of zero till in the last decade, and possibly by cutting fertilizer levels in the next decade. The contribution will be mainly a response to meeting personal economic objectives rather than being induced by direct incentives through the offset program.