{"id":4118,"date":"2020-01-27T20:26:15","date_gmt":"2020-01-27T20:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ciresblogs.colorado.edu\/prometheus\/?p=4118"},"modified":"2020-01-27T20:27:26","modified_gmt":"2020-01-27T20:27:26","slug":"you-cant-value-what-you-cant-measure-a-critical-look-at-forest-carbon-accounting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ciresblogs.colorado.edu\/prometheus\/2020\/01\/27\/you-cant-value-what-you-cant-measure-a-critical-look-at-forest-carbon-accounting\/","title":{"rendered":"You Can\u2019t Value What You Can\u2019t Measure: A Critical Look at Forest Carbon Accounting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ciresblogs.colorado.edu\/prometheus\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2020\/01\/downeast_lakes.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4119\" width=\"680\" height=\"380\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ciresblogs.colorado.edu\/prometheus\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2020\/01\/downeast_lakes.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ciresblogs.colorado.edu\/prometheus\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2020\/01\/downeast_lakes-300x168.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>by Lauren Gifford, CSTPR Research Affiliate<br><em><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Climatic Change (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s10584-020-02653-1\" target=\"_blank\">Climatic Change<\/a><\/em>, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Abstract: This article takes on the political and contested nature of forest carbon accounting via three \u201cpoints of engagement\u201d that articulate forest carbon initiatives as representations of tradable carbon. The three points of engagement\u2014(1) baseline determinations, (2) the calculation of additionality, and (3) the role of uncertainty\u2014are used to show how processes framed as technical are often spaces where uneven social and political interests are manipulated or obscured and contribute to varying environmental and conservation outcomes. The article begins by reviewing how carbon counting emerges in critical social science literature on forest carbon projects. Next, it explains carbon accounting broadly, the specifics of forest carbon accounting and why forests are popular spaces for financialized carbon sequestration. It concludes by arguing that carbon accounting is an uneven technical and political process that makes multiples forms of carbon legible on financial markets but does little to physically address atmospheric carbon concentrations. <a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/epdf\/10.1007\/s10584-020-02653-1?author_access_token=WOtH9l8gHuTbvfu_U8Khsve4RwlQNchNByi7wbcMAY7zmxFCQdKhJZyD618MXnC0SMxNNMX7M6nn5rrBXV73Z6no-aDuGxwm5U4ASm4_qjrBNWPjSrCjALpAHxovlhtZcChU05tfQYWNqOyFEIU4MQ%3D%3D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Read more ... (opens in a new tab)\">Read more &#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Lauren Gifford, CSTPR Research AffiliateClimatic Change, 2020 Abstract: This article takes on the political and contested nature of forest carbon accounting via three \u201cpoints of engagement\u201d that articulate forest carbon initiatives as representations of tradable carbon. The three points &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/ciresblogs.colorado.edu\/prometheus\/2020\/01\/27\/you-cant-value-what-you-cant-measure-a-critical-look-at-forest-carbon-accounting\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-publications"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-31 07:44:06","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ciresblogs.colorado.edu\/prometheus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ciresblogs.colorado.edu\/prometheus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ciresblogs.colorado.edu\/prometheus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ciresblogs.colorado.edu\/prometheus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ciresblogs.colorado.edu\/prometheus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4118"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ciresblogs.colorado.edu\/prometheus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4121,"href":"https:\/\/ciresblogs.colorado.edu\/prometheus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4118\/revisions\/4121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ciresblogs.colorado.edu\/prometheus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ciresblogs.colorado.edu\/prometheus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ciresblogs.colorado.edu\/prometheus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}