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 Vol. 4, No. 1: June 30, 2008
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WATER TRADING
Part One Water Trading: The Basics
Water trading has been hailed as the "next carbon", and schemes for valuing and trading both water usage and water "inputs" are proliferating across North and South America, Asia, and Africa. We review the fundamentals of this promising ecosystem market.
Landmark US regulations for offsetting lost wetlands were enacted just over two weeks ago, and those most impacted have been poring over the documents. Nearly everyone agrees that "The Rule" is a boon to bankers, but what does it mean for wetlands? We hear all sides.
Part Three US Water Trading: The Infrastructure
As governments around the world experiment with market-based solutions to water pollution, they look for lessons to those who have gone before them. We examine the structure of the US water trading markets, and takes stock of the lessons learned.
With the Global Katoomba Meeting just weeks away, we continue our series on Water Quality Trading schemes around the world. In this installment, we take stock of the key drivers in the US WQT Sector.
Farmers and other diffuse polluters should, in theory, welcome money from industry for voluntarily reducing their runoff – but high commodity prices and a fear of regulatory entanglement has put a lid on demand in water quality trading in the US. We examine the challenge of stimulating WQT demand.
Two lean years after setting up shop, Pennsylvania water credit aggregator Red Barn Trading cut a dream deal enabling the town of Fairview to slash both emissions and costs by helping chicken farmers manage their animal waste. Red Barn itself, however, is struggling to make the business pay – and some say the state's entire water quality trading scheme will have to be overhauled if the success is to be replicated.
GreenVest CEO Doug Lashley tells us that what's needed to save the Bay are not more ecosystem payment tools, but broader understanding of how existing tools work - alone and together - and the mechanics for implementing their use.
Part Eight Ohio Water Trading: Driving Without Drivers
The Great Miami River Watershed Water Quality Credit Trading program has slashed discharges in the US state of Ohio and sparked unprecedented cooperation among rural farmers, urban water plants, regulators, and environmentalists – all while acting as a proving ground for new methodologies. But without a legally-binding cap on discharges to drive demand, the scheme may whither on the vine.
Senator John Kerry delivered the keynote address at last week's
Twelfth Katoomba Meeting, which was co-hosted by the Smithsonian Institution and held at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. Canadian environmental writer Chris Wood takes stock of the proceedings.
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PROFILE
When not raiding illegal Indonesian logging operations with the Governor of Aceh or hanging ten off the Australian coast, Dorjee Sun is cutting carbon offset deals – among them the world's largest avoided deforestation project to date. We talk to one of the environmental movement's true mavericks.
For more than two decades, Jessica Salas has been helping the people of her native Philippines preserve the watersheds on which they are dependent. Along the way, she's learned a few things about what works and what doesn't. We examine her career.
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