Voluntary carbon market receives liquidity boost

Trading in carbon offset credits between different countries should become significantly easier from today with the launch of an upgraded system designed to enable the transfer of offsets between different registries.

The Voluntary Carbon Standard Association (VCSA), which monitors the so-called non-compliance carbon market that operates outside the confines of the UN and government-backed schemes, today announced that its new multiple registry system is up and running.

The system, which allows the transfer of Voluntary Carbon Unit (VCU) offsets across different national registries, was formally launched in March, but the critical transfer process was delayed as a result of technical problems.

"We are very pleased that the registry functionality originally envisioned by the VCSA is now in place," VCSA chief executive David Antonioli said in a statement. "Being able to transfer VCUs from one registry to another both broadens the scope for transactions and strengthens the unique VCS system."

The VCS registries were set up to help tackle the issue of double-selling, whereby some emissions-reduction projects were suspected of selling the same offset credit to a number of different purchasers. By providing an independent registry it is possible to track the owner of a given offset and ensure it can be matched to real and verifiable emissions reductions.

Previously, firms looking to transfer offsets between different regional and national registries had to go through a central clearing house, but the VCSA said the new functionality would allow companies to cut out the middleman, boosting liquidity in the global voluntary carbon market.