Journal of Forest Economics > Vol 17 > Issue 4

Rewarding carbon sequestration in South-Western French forests: A costly operation?

Guillaume Pajot, guillaume.pajot@u-bordeaux4.fr
 
Suggested Citation
Guillaume Pajot (2011), "Rewarding carbon sequestration in South-Western French forests: A costly operation?", Journal of Forest Economics: Vol. 17: No. 4, pp 363-377. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfe.2010.12.002

Publication Date: 0/12/2011
© 0 2011 Guillaume Pajot
 
Subjects
 
Keywords
JEL Codes:C61C63Q23Q54Q56Q57Q58
Carbon sequestrationForestsCost effectivenessIncentivesRotation lengthsCarbon stocksMarginal costs
 

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In this article:
Introduction 
Methods and data 
Results 
Discussion 
Conclusions 

Abstract

The extension of rotation lengths in forests has been proposed as an option for increasing carbon storage and contributing to climate change mitigation. This paper presents the results of a case study conducted on forests located in the southwest of France. The aim of this research was to assess the cost effectiveness of a subsidy/tax system on carbon fluxes. First, it is shown that such a mechanism leads forest owners to extend rotation lengths. However, cost effectiveness analysis shows that: (1) marginal social costs are more expensive than the private marginal costs of carbon sequestration; (2) marginal costs are higher when carbon stocks are discounted, ranging from 170.1€/tC to 719.8€/tC with discounted carbon stocks; and from 38.8€/tC to 78.4€/tC with undiscounted carbon stocks; (3) marginal costs are in the range of measures of the social value of carbon for France; (4) marginal costs increase with timber prices and increase with discount rate.

DOI:10.1016/j.jfe.2010.12.002