Silver bullet or fools' gold? A global review of markets for forest environmental services and their impact on the poor.

Ever since the passage of the 1990 amendments to the US Clean Air act and the creation of a market in sulfur dioxide (SO2), it has become clear that market mechanisms can be effectively used to achieve environmental policies. But markets are neither infallible nor automatic. They have blind spots and they need to be designed effectively if they are to effectively achieve environmental ends. This paper defines markets as regular gatherings of people for the purpose of buying and selling goods or services. Such markets are distinguished from public payments to private landowners for ecosystem services, or private deals between a few buyers and sellers. It then provides a brief overview of several existing and proposed environmental markets, including: the Acid Rain market in the US, the Emissions Trading Scheme in the UK, the proposed Emissions Trading System for the European Union, the US market in greenhouse gases proposed by Senators McCain and Lieberman, the US market in wetlands mitigation credits, and the renewable energy market in Texas. From these the paper attempts to draw some lessons and conclusions. URI http://hdl.handle.net/10919/66848 Collections Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management (SANREM) Knowledgebase [4055] Silver bullet or fools' gold: A global review of markets for forest environmental services and their impact on the poor ​ Landell-Mills, N.; Porras, I.T. (London: International Institute for Environment and Development, 2002) Market-based approaches to environmental management are increasingly common in all sectors of the economy. Forestry is no exception. Governments around the world have opened the door to private sector participation in all ... Exploring the market for voluntary carbon offsets ​ Taiyab, N. (London: International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), 2006) This paper explores the potential for financing small-scale high-benefit sustainable development projects through the voluntary and retail sector of the carbon market. Through a literature review and interviews with offset ... Creating markets for environmental stewardship: Potential benefits and problems ​ Ribaudo, M. (Washington, D.C.: Economic Research Service, USDA, 2008) This topical article from the United States Department of Agriculture summarizes some of the potential benefits and problems faced by defining environmental services markets in the United States. Though the discussion is ... If you believe that any material in VTechWorks should be removed, please see our Making environmental markets work: lessons from early experience with sulfur, carbon, wetlands, and other related markets 