Research Library

A working group led by the Baker Institute has developed an innovative measurement-based standard — “BCarbon” — for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it in the soil as organic carbon. BCarbon is a scalable soil carbon storage standard designed to work for landowners and soil carbon storage buyers. The proposed standard allows landowners to monetize soil carbon storage as a property right.

Over a decade ago, the Inter-American Development Bank led an in-depth analysis of eight South American countries that profoundly influenced the understanding of political institutions and the policymaking process in Latin America. In 2018, the Baker Institute’s Latin America Initiative expanded the project to include four additional Central American countries: Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Panama. These country reports, written in Spanish, are available below. Hace casi una década, el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID) impulso un análisis sobre ocho países suramericanos que influyó profundamente el entendimiento de instituciones políticas y el proceso de formulación de políticas públicas en América Latina. El Latin America Initiative del Baker Institute amplió el análisis para incluir a cuatro países de Centro América: Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador y Panamá. Estos ensayos forman parte del análisis sobre los países de Centro América.    

The unfettered development of Houston's flood-prone areas undoubtedly magnified the tremendous damage caused by Hurricane Harvey, but zoning or other land use controls are unpopular on the Texas coast and are unlikely to be adopted as a result. With this in mind, the SSPEED Center at Rice University looked to innovation and the market system to find a creative solution to protect important natural, flood-prone areas from further development.