Title
Ecosystem Service Commodification: lessons from California
Publisher
Global Environmental Politics
Abstract
In 2013 the state of California launched a cap-and-trade program with a groundbreaking protocol for improved forest management (IFM), providing a framework to monetize carbon sequestration in managed forests. Through in-depth interviews and document review, this research examines California IFM program development as a case study in stakeholder-engaged ecosystem commodification. We consider how diverse, vested-interest actors contested rival program design options by using the familiar narratives of ecological modernization, green governmentality, and civic environmentalism. The results reveal the benefits and complexities of delegating methodological design to stakeholders who seek direct participation in the market, and highlight the challenges of balancing multiple program objectives, including environmental benefits, legitimacy and market reception, and landowner participation potential. This research provides a unique window into the complex process of forest-offset program design and offers broader lessons for ecosystem markets currently being designed and implemented globally.
Identifiers
doi: 10.1162/GLEP_a_00374
Previously Published Citation
Schmitz, Marissa Bongiovanni, and Erin Clover Kelly. "Ecosystem service commodification: lessons from california." Global Environmental Politics (2016).
Funding information
This material is based on work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture McIntire-Stennis program, accession number 231837.
Suggested Citation
Schmitz, Marissa B; Kelly, Erin C.
(2016).
Ecosystem Service Commodification: lessons from California.
Global Environmental Politics.
Retrieved from the University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy,
https://hdl.handle.net/11299/189154.