Matthew Hayek : Ag and forest carbon tradeoffs

Matthew Hayek 

• Associate professor 
• 9 Weeks. 1 February through 4 April
• Origine : Matthew Hayek, New York University Department of Environmental Studies
• Destination : INRAE Paris-Saclay Applied Economics
• Liens avec FairCarboN : Axe 1, 2 & 3 : Continuum terre-zone côtière-atmosphère, Couplage des cycles biogéochimiques & Questions économiques et sociales, moteurs et impacts du changement / Projets : ALAMOD, CLIM-FAS, PREFALIM

Résumé de la mission 

Ag and forest carbon tradeoffs

Developing an Opportunity Cost Indicator of Land-Use Change for Carbon Sequestration in France: Integrating Biophysical and Economic Metrics for the PEPR-FairCarboN Network

France is legally committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, requiring deep emissions cuts and a substantial increase in natural carbon sinks, as mandated by the Stratégie Nationale Bas Carbone (SNBC). This proposal outlines a collaborative research project within the PEPR-FairCarboN network, to deploy the high-resolution, peer-reviewed Carbon Opportunity Intensity (COI) geospatial methodology. 

The COI geospatial maps provide essential biophysical metrics that demonstrate the critical tradeoff between maximizing natural carbon sequestration and maintaining agricultural productivity. The maps will be structured with a use-oriented design to ensure the resulting land-use scenarios align incentives and are trusted by policymakers and land decision-makers. 

The biophysical COI data then be used to inform rigorous economic research via collaborations with applied economic teams, to calculate a monetary opportunity cost of land-use change for climate mitigation. This work directly supports the ClimFas project by supplying the foundational data required to estimate the marginal abatement cost curve (MACC) for Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and carbon sink potentials. The data will also help inform the PrefAlim project by quantifying the supply-side cost constraint and dynamic land-use implications resulting from changes in consumer preferences. The results will provide co-optimized scenarios for climate mitigation, food sovereignty, and national resilience, and can feed into other FairCarboN efforts, including SLAM-B. 

Physical mobility is indispensable for properly calibrating the COI framework using France-specific, high-resolution data (e.g., ALAMOD vegetation and soil data). This in-person collaboration ensures the monetary opportunity cost metric is accurately tailored to the French context through direct work with the INRAE applied economics team and facilitates face-to-face integration with key PEPR-FairCarboN scenario teams, ensuring methodological harmony and accelerating the utilization of this scientific advance.