A supply function for carbon sequestration: Multi-disciplinary estimation and integrated sensitivity analysis

Our goal is to estimate how much sequestration of carbon would be offered by Costa Rican landowners responding to a reward for sequestration such as the price of carbon `offsets¿ in a global market for such sequestration credits . Although the formation of such a market is the leading candidate for implementation of any international climate change agreement involving binding limits on carbon emissions from richer countries, the components of the estimation described below would be helpful regardless of the form of carbon regulation adopted. An important part of this estimation is to explore how sensitive the result is to the approaches taken (in particular the ecological approach) in estimation and in the establishment of a carbon monitoring system.

This type of supply function information is of great policy interest not only for the specific case of Costa Rica but also for other countries which may want to participate in such a market. This is especially true for those countries with forests `ecologically similar¿ to those of Costa Rica, the exact definition of which will become clearer as a result of the sensitivity testing. The sensitivity testing will also indicate how best to simplify the workings of such a market, which would increase the opportunities for small land owners to participate when it is in their interest.

Finally, producing such an estimate requires expertise from not only ecology but also economics, and both of the two major components of this estimation can stand alone as disciplinary research.