By Candace Currie
Additionality : “ Additionality is a concept from international Greenhouse Gas ( GHG ) project accounting principles that requires a project activity is additional to “ business as usual ” and would not have occurred in the absence of an incentive provided by a GHG offsets market .”
Carbon storage : “ Carbon storage is the amount of carbon bound up in the above-ground and below-ground parts of woody vegetation .” ( i-Tree 2016 )
Carbon sequestration : “ Carbon sequestration is the removal of carbon dioxide from the air by plants .” ( i-Tree 2016 )
Many people believe that the plant collections of Mount Auburn Cemetery should help offset the greenhouse gas ( GHG ) emissions – that is all use of fossil fuels at Mount Auburn . They do on paper many times over . Unfortunately , using this existing urban forest and calculating the offset requires the understanding of another concept of additionality . As a botanic garden , the valued tree collection is ‘ business as usual ’ and it does not nudge the climate change needle in an extra positive direction even though the benefits it provides are extraordinary . Hypothetically , the creation of another Mount Auburn in order to expand its landscape footprint and increase ecosystem and carbon storage services would be required to move the needle on climate change .
There seems to be consternation about this topic of additionality among professionals in the field of GHG accounting . According to Climate Action Reserve , “ Greenhouse gas ( GHG ) reduction projects must reduce emissions or increase sequestration of GHGs in a manner that is real , permanent , verifiable and additional .” Papers continue to be written on additionality and the proper way to account for a forest like Mount Auburn ’ s . Perhaps in the future , the baseline GHG emissions may be adjusted to account for the carbon storage and leafy sequestration of Mount Auburn ’ s trees , but for now , documenting the many ecosystem services that trees provide : air pollution removal , carbon storage and sequestration , oxygen production , and runoff avoidance as identified in the Carbon Storage , Sequestration and Ecosystem Benefits , and in details with Alex Wolf ’ s iTree Reporting .
Mount Auburn Cemetery | Climate Action & Sustainability Plan 90