A preliminary Coasian proposal for tree auditing via planning control of tree farms

Abstract

The emergence of green consumerism has contributed to the rise of farms which hold out as tree planters for absorbing CO2. A preliminary survey of the literature on tree farms and town planning practice of Western Australia found that there is scepticism regarding the credibility of these tree farms and an absence of an information flow system that rewards the credible private tree farmers. From a Coasian neoinstitutional economic (NIE) perspective, there is therefore the potential for devising rules that can enlarge an existing market or industry. This short commentary maps the current information flow system in the tree planting industry and proposes an improved system based on voluntary disclosure of tree planting data by tree farms in the planning permission system.