Ecosystem Services Payments
- Ashu Sikri (Unlicensed)
What intervention?
Biochar? Under evaluation; see Biochar Life note
Increasing SOC through sustainable practices: focus for IndigoAg US
Eliminating stubble burning: focus for GrowIndigo (India) and Nurture.farm (UPL)
Agroforestry / tree plating: focus for Rabobank Acorns program (see notes)
Are the proceeds to farmers sufficient to incentivize behavior change?
One issue is the gap between when farmers need to make investments on-farm in practices that deliver ecosystem benefits vs. when offset revenue is realized. There are groups that pre-fund projects like Native’s Help Build Program.
Typically, when someone buys a carbon offset, the money goes to pay for a reduction in greenhouse gases that has already occurred. This purchase supports an existing project. But sometimes community-based projects, like wind turbines at public schools, don’t have enough funding to be built in the first place.
Help Build™ carbon offsets bridge the gap. You purchase carbon offsets from your project in advance—that is, before they occur. By doing so, you play a key role in funding its construction, enabling it to cut greenhouse gas pollution on your behalf for years to come.
Â