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As in the two previous years, Ecosystem Marketplace   http://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com/

and New Carbon Finance  http://www.newcarbonfinance.com/  have released their annual report on the state of the voluntary carbon markets.

The document, subtitled Fortifying the Foundation, is based on the reported activity during 2008 of 182 developers, aggregators, brokers and retailers of voluntary carbon credits.

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OQI Publishes Brief, “Maintaining Carbon Market Integrity: Why Renewable Energy Certificates Are Not Offsets”
The World Resources Institute Analyzes Offset Quality in the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009

http://www.offsetqualityinitiative.org/OQI%20REC%20Brief%20Web.pdf

http://www.offsetqualityinitiative.org/OQI%20REC%20Brief%20Exec%20Sum%20Web.pdf

Introduction

On 15 December 2008 the Commonwealth Government released a White Paper outlining the final design of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) and the medium-term target range for reducing emissions. Following this, the Government released a Discussion Paper and draft National Carbon Offset Standard (the Standard) intended to apply to voluntary abatement activity that occurs beyond that imposed by the Scheme.
The purpose of this paper is to clarify key elements of the proposed Standard, which will have significant implications for voluntary abatement action and current approaches to carbon offsetting and carbon neutrality. It is intended that this paper will assist interested parties who wish to make a submission on some of the key issues raised in the Discussion Paper.

Introduction

Chemical substances - CO2, CH4, N2O, and SF6 - have a lot to answer for as greenhouse gases that permeate the air contribute to global warming. Although there is still no grand plan in place to reduce global emissions, some important steps in the right direction have been made. The European Emissions Trading Scheme is up and running and working well. In fact, the United States is looking to launch a similar foundation by the end of 2008. The transfer of efficient “Green” technologies to emerging countries is booming.

The insurance industry is being pushed to step-up and look at developing insurance products that will support and encourage further investment in renewable energy projects. An example of this is a specially tailored cover called Carbon Offsets Liability.

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The Department of Climate Change released a discussion paper and a draft national carbon offset standard for public consultation in December 2008.
The standard is designed to ensure that consumers have confidence in the voluntary carbon offset market and the integrity of the carbon offset products they produce.

Consultation on the discussion paper and draft standard have now closed and submissions are now available.

Draft National Carbon Offset Standard (342 KB)

http://www.climatechange.gov.au/carbonoffsetting/pubs/draftoffsetstandard.pdf

National Carbon Offset standard discussion paper (908 KB)

http://www.climatechange.gov.au/carbonoffsetting/pubs/national-carbon-offset-standard-paper.pdf

Top North American offset providers evaluated and rated based on industry standards Customizable tool allows for tailored assistance to ensure the most effective carbon offset purchasing decisions

Executive Summary

Climate change, or rather, climate destabilization, is the greatest challenge facing the world today, and will have significant ramifications for business. To address this challenge and minimize risks, both internal and external, businesses must get their own house in order. That is, complete a Green House Gas (GHG) footprint analysis, strategically evaluate product and service offerings for climate change risks, set reduction goals for both product/service and operational GHG emissions, implement programs to achieve those reduction goals, and finally, consider carbon offset purchases.

Strategies that stimulate innovation and provide critical sources of investment into the emerging green technology sector.

In order to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, we need to reduce emissions by at least 60 percent over the coming two decades. A single magic bullet allowing governments, organizations, and individuals to meet this target is very unlikely. Instead, we need a portfolio of approaches and a communal effort to stimulate the alternative energy sector. High-quality carbon offsets can allow emitters to pool investment in the short to medium term to secure strategic emissions reductions. This mechanism stimulates innovation within organizations, since offsets attach a cost to greenhouse gas emissions and provide a critical source of investment into the emerging green technology sector.

Abstract

We present a framework for allocating a global carbon reduction target among nations, in which the concept of “common but differentiated responsibilities” refers to the emissions of individuals instead of nations. We use the income distribution of a country to estimate how its fossil fuel CO2 emissions are distributed among its citizens, from which we build up a global CO2 distribution. We then propose a simple rule to derive a universal cap on global individual emissions and find corresponding limits on national aggregate emissions from this cap. All of the world’s high CO2-emitting individuals are treated the same, regardless of where they live. Any future global emission goal (target and time frame) can be converted into national reduction targets, which are determined by “Business as Usual” projections of national carbon emissions and in-country income distributions. For example, reducing projected global emissions in 2030 by 13 GtCO2 would require the engagement of 1.13 billion high emitters, roughly equally distributed in 4 regions: the U.S., the OECD minus the U.S., China, and the non-OECD minus China. We also modify our methodology to place a floor on emissions of the world’s lowest CO2 emitters and demonstrate that climate mitigation and alleviation of extreme poverty are largely decoupled.

Full Text

Find out what 120 global, multinational and regional organisations attitudes are to forest carbon projects in general. In addition the report also examines the motivating factors behind corporate decisions to purchase forest carbon offsets and the perceptions which organisations have regarding the additional community and biodiversity benefits that many forestry projects often provide.

Download your free copy of the report .

Find out what 65 leading multinational organisations are doing in terms of their carbon management strategies. This primary quantitative research study provides industry insight and benchmarks regarding some of the strategies that are being utilised to help the transition to a low carbon economy.

Download your free copy of the report .