Arriving at a natural solution: Bundling credits to access rangeland carbon markets

Abstract

• Natural solutions, such as “avoided conversion of grasslands,” offer agricultural land managers a way to mitigate climate change while monetizing climate benefits. • Managers who avoid converting grasslands to other uses, such as row crops, can quantify the amount of stored carbon and sell credits, but high costs of developing carbon credit projects price many landowners out of the carbon market. • Aggregation can create economies of scale, which lower barriers of entry and allow more landowners to participate in the market. • Given the current low prices in the carbon market, aggregation is not a panacea and aggregated projects are not financially viable for many landowners. • As the demand for carbon credits continues to grow, land managers can position themselves to take advantage of carbon market opportunities should prices increase, and projects become financially viable.