Introduce land sector offset mechanisms and develop agricultural carbon methodologies

In addition, a potentially significant way to spur the phaseout of domestic carbon-intensive activities is to introduce land-sector offset mechanisms and develop agricultural carbon methodologies. Offset programs enable farmers and landowners to undertake low-carbon projects in order to generate carbon credits; these credits can then be sold to governments or companies looking to realize voluntary sustainability targets or comply with a regulated carbon market or tax. However, such schemes remain relatively rare and have had a modest impact, with high upfront costs and complex processes and hefty fees for listing and validation two notable hurdles to their adoption. An alternative to an offset program is an ecosystem service market whereby farmers and landowners are paid for undertaking an ecosystem or environmental service such as biodiversity protection.