Cost-Impact Analysis for Emission Reduction Projects

The Cost-Impact Analysis for Emission Reduction Projects (COMPARE) is a tool developed by UNIQUE Forestry and Land Use in conjunction with International Rice Research Institute. This tool is a Microsoft® Excel workbook with built-in formulas and functions that allow automatic calculation of Cost Benefit Analysis indicators and GHG emissions according to the user's defined inputs.


This Excel Tool is designed to provide a Cost Benefit Assessment showing the economic and carbon impacts of different rice management practices at a regional level in Vietnam. The tool is designed to cater to different user types and allows full flexibility to adapt the tool for advanced users. It enables the user to estimate the benefits, costs, and GHG savings in a "Business As Usual" (BAU) scenario (broadly reflecting the current mix of rice production methods) and a “Project” scenario (reflecting a desired mix of rice production methods).

How does it work?

The COMPARE tool is a single Excel workbook and uses Excel in-built functions combined with programming codes written using Visual Basic for Application (VBA) language. It is made up of a series of worksheets that allow users to combine per-hectare models of different rice production methods to estimate the benefits and costs and environmental outcomes of transitioning to a Project landscape from what is currently on the ground. 

The current version of the tool incorporates eight rice production methods: Traditional production, Alternate Wetting and Drying, Mid-season drainage, Straw management, Deep Placement Management, One Must Do Five Reductions, Sustainable Rice Platform, and System of Rice Intensification (SRI).


It contains now production data of five areas in the Mekong River Delta region which users can use as default values, they can also update values for the new area into the “General” region. Based on users’ inputs, the tool will calculate for costs and economic and environmental benefits of selected mitigation packages. Results are provided in data tables as well as visualized in graphic formats.