In this column, we will explore and understand different terms widely used in addressing greenhouse gas emission mitigation and carbon sequestration.
Before discussing these terms, it is important to define carbon credit, which is calculated based on carbon-dioxide equivalent to limit the emission as mass equal to 1 ton of carbon dioxide per unit area .
This is the most essential policy term used as a metric in determining the effectiveness of an offset strategy, practices or projects of GHG emission, and determining their quality and effectiveness.
It is widely understood that additionality, conceptually, is considered a determinant of whether a proposed activity will produce some “extra good” in the future relative to a reference scenario, which we refer to as a baseline.
Credible greenhouse gas emissions reductions can only be assessed if the baseline is an accurate and realistic reflection of the business-as-usual emissions scenario.
Each project, system or practice must have a monitoring and verification plan specific to that project that defines how, when and by whom the quantification and verification will be done.
This is a term used to note that the offsets generated by a biologically based approach can have that risk, and the carbon gain can be reversed.
The term leakage is defined as an increase or decrease in GHG emissions outside the boundaries of a farm or project’s emissions that occur because of the activity associated with management practices.
These credits may only be allocated, awarded or counted one time, at any given time, against the GHG emissions of a single entity, project or farm in the case of agriculture practices.