NEW: Project Type Focus Initiatives

The Offset Network announces a new approach to carbon offset protocol review, project development, and peer-review processes: Project Type Focus Initiatives.

Beginning in academic year 2023-2024, The Offset Network will begin to devote our main resources to a focused review of specific carbon offset project types.

This approach arose in response to demand from the higher education sector for better collective vetting of carbon offset project types, and in response to internal capacity issues. This pivot in our program offerings also hopes to better catalyze the assets of higher education in service of the market. To respond to these needs, The Offset Network Executive Committee elected to facilitate collaboration across the higher education sector to vet, improve, develop and peer review offset projects within specific categories for stated periods of time.

Effective immediately, our focus will be Improved Forest Management (IFM).

Improved Forest Management

Improved Forest Management (IFM) is a carbon offset project type that incentivizes increased stocking of trees on forested lands and well-managed timber production to effectively increase forest carbon stocks over 20+ year periods. This project type is associated with repeated over-crediting according to present day protocols on the voluntary market, presenting an opportunity for higher education to contribute to the improvement of standard protocol. Meanwhile, many higher education campuses are asking big questions about how to inventory and manage their campus forests, with offsets as part of that consideration. With a dedicated focus on the IFM project type, The Offset Network proposes to facilitate protocol improvement and IFM project design and implementation in cooperation with US higher education institutions.

Timeline and Deliverables

Beginning in the fall of 2023, The Offset Network will launch the IFM Project Type Focus Initiative, and will continue this focus until participating stakeholders agree that the work is sufficient and deliverables have been met. The proposed timeline and deliverables are as follows:

Fall 2023:

  • During the fourth quarter of 2023, The Offset Network seeks to assemble a working group of forestry faculty, extension personnel, and academic offset experts to review existing IFM methodology and propose add-on criteria that improves the integrity of IFM protocol and subsequent project design and carbon crediting. This work will happen in collaboration with The Berkeley Carbon Trading Project, and will be led by Dr. Barbara Haya, who has already completed significant research on the existing IFM methods and proposed necessary updates.

  • The Offset Network will also be recruiting campuses who may be interested in developing IFM projects in their campus forests according to the revised protocol. There will be an informational meeting about campus participation, as well as a more in-depth webinar about IFM in fall 2023, and an in-person peer verification training opportunity in Spring 2024.

spring 2024:

Once the working group has proposed protocol improvements, campuses approved to participate will begin establishing their project boundaries, calculating their forest inventory and establishing baseline calculations for their projects. Our goal is to recruit 3-5 campuses to develop IFM projects as part of this initial focus initiative. The Offset Network will work to facilitate validation of each project, provide technical assistance to campus liaisons in project monitoring and implementation according to the protocol, and facilitate peer-review of project offsets.

Important dates:

September 27, 2023 2:30pm EST : Introductory Info Session for Campuses (Register here)
via Zoom

At this virtual event, The Offset Network will provide information on the new project type focus, and share details about the IFM initiative. We will also detail what campuses can expect, and when, if they want to develop IFM projects as part of the initiative. This meeting will be recorded.

October 2023 (date TBA): IFM Webinar
via Zoom

At this virtual event, working group members and Offset Network representatives will share basic information about Improved Forest Management carbon offsets, key issues with the project type, and the specific goals for the Offset Network IFM Focus Initiative.

February 11, 2024: Peer Review Training at the Higher Education Leadership Summit
Long Beach, CA

At this in-person Summit, The Offset Network will facilitate a training in peer-review of carbon offsets, with a focus on Improved Forest Management.


Questions?

Contact Meredith Leigh (mleigh@secondnature.org) or visit our updated FAQ.