Ontario’s commitment to reducing GHG emissions in the province will require significant efforts from regulated industries and other sectors to achieve the ambitious reduction targets. As such, GHG offset credits may provide a necessary bridge for industry to make a cost effective transition to cleaner activities while incenting other unregulated industries to develop through carbon revenues. The agricultural community has the potential to be an important contributor to addressing climate change however in order to do so, the system needs to be designed in such a way as to enable broad participation.

This paper explores the design elements and regulatory framework necessary to enable the agriculture community to make a meaningful contribution towards addressing climate change through participation in a market-based offset system.