CMI Annual Report 2022

Land Conversion to Store Carbon: The Costs and Benefits to
Biodiversity
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: JONATHAN LEVINE
Harnessing the power of land to store carbon is essential to meeting worldwide net-zero targets. However, the
impacts such actions have on global biodiversity are highly uncertain and poorly understood. Research in
Jonathan Levine’s group is exploring the conflicts and synergies between society’s portfolio of land-based
climate solutions and biodiversity. Addressing this interaction is critical for conservation groups, companies,
and governmental agencies that promote natural climate solutions and offsets under the assumption that
benefits to biodiversity are clear.
Understanding How Economic Incentives Influence Land-Use
Decisions
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS: KATHY BAYLIS, ROBERT HEILMAYR AND ANDREW PLANTINGA
To help combat climate change, several countries have programs that incentivize landowners to make land-use
decisions that reduce net greenhouse gas emissions—like avoiding deforestation, planting trees or practicing
no-till farming. The Environmental Markets Laboratory (emLab) at the University of California, Santa Barbara
(UCSB) is conducting econometric analyses, (i.e., using statistical models to analyze economic data) to
understand the effectiveness of these incentives on a national and global scale. The goal is to explore how
responsive land-use decisions are to market prices, and the political, cultural and economic factors that
influence these responses. Research findings will help policy makers understand the potential impact that
incentives for land-based climate solutions could have on land use and associated emissions and help
companies with ambitious net-zero goals utilize land in an optimal way.
11
Carbon Mitigation Initiative Twenty-second Year Report 2022