Carbon offset projects in the agricultural sector
Carbon offsetting projects are one of the economic tools available to reduce agricultural emissions by paying for metric tons of avoided CO2e emissions. A summary of the emission reductions enabled by agricultural projects to date is provided in this report. It covers most projects certified by quality assurance standards, including those set up by the Kyoto Protocol (Clean Development Mechanism and Joint Implementation) and those in the voluntary market (Verified Carbon Standard, Climate Action Reserve, Gold Standard, Chicago Climate Exchange, and American Carbon Registry). The assessment drawn up on this basis shows that emission reductions enabled through carbon offsetting are thousand times lower than actual emissions and their potential mitigation. Agricultural projects have reduced emissions by 14 MtCO2e in 2010, i.e. 7% of the reductions generated by all carbon offset projects across all sectors for this year.