Organisational Attitudes and Preferences Towards Forest Carbon Offsets in Spain’s Carbon Footprint Registry

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Organisational Attitudes and Preferences Towards Forest Carbon Offsets in Spain’s Carbon Footprint Registry | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Organisational Attitudes and Preferences Towards Forest Carbon Offsets in Spain’s Carbon Footprint Registry Brenda Morales, Paola Ovando This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6204961/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study investigates organisations’ offsetting decisions and their preferences for forest carbon removal projects within the Spanish Carbon Footprint Registry. Drawing on an online survey with 249 valid responses, it analyses the psychological and economic factors shaping these decisions and preferences. The survey incorporates a questionnaire based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour to assess the role of attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, and perceived trust and risk in offsetting decisions. A Discrete Choice Experiment further elicits preferences for forest project attributes. The findings highlight the central role of subjective norms and attitudes in driving organisational engagement with carbon offsetting. Notably, decision-making patterns vary between high and low GHG emitters: while high emitters are primarily influenced by internal attitudes and enjoy greater autonomy in their offsetting choices, low emitters are more constrained by external expectations from clients, investors, and competitors. The study also identifies a strong preference for domestic afforestation and reforestation projects, particularly those using native species, underscoring the importance of market segmentation in voluntary offsetting strategies. This study offers valuable insights into the determinants of corporate engagement in forest carbon removal projects, providing evidence to inform strategies and policies that promote participation in voluntary carbon markets. Environmental Economics Theory of Planned Behaviour PLS-SEM Discrete Choice Experiment afforestation and reforestation voluntary carbon markets Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. 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