This is precisely what should not be done. While the common carbon market between Quebec and California suffers from a lack of credibility because prices are stagnating, now Quebec will grant credits to people who planted trees… 30 years ago. Misery !
Yes, trees planted three decades ago are capturing carbon. But the purpose of this market is to generate new GHG reductions, not to reward initiatives that have been in place for a long time.
However, federal regulations prohibit projects older than five years for such so-called “offset” credits. In addition to defying logic, these bogus credits will exacerbate a problem: the fact that supply is too great for demand on the Quebec-California market, which means that prices are not rising at the desired rate.
The price of carbon in Quebec is stagnating at $35 a tonne, while that imposed by the federal government on provinces that do not have their own system, such as Alberta, will rise to $65 a tonne in April.
It is amazing to note that instead of tightening the supply to raise the price to a more reasonable level, the Quebec government has just made the problem worse.