Offset industry slams government over guidelines

No UK government-approved carbon offset scheme currently provides money for tackling deforestation, despite climate change secretary Ed Miliband recently highlighting the issue.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change this week brought out "quality assurance" guidelines for businesses that wish to voluntarily offset the carbon they produce.

But offset providers are enraged that the government has only decided to approve Certified Emission Reductions (CERs), already in use under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and which typically fund large utility projects rather than smaller ones such as those that tackle deforestation.

Edward Hanrahan of JP Morgan Climate Care and spokesperson for the International Carbon Reduction and Offset Alliance (ICROA) said the government should recognise Verified Emissions Reductions (VERs) as well.

"CERs are designed for large projects and compulsory carbon trading schemes, while VERs help fund smaller, more innovative projects which often help alleviate poverty and tackle deforestation," he said.

In December, Miliband announced £100m of funding to tackle global deforestation, saying: "If we don't do something on global deforestation, then events that I saw in my constituency a year ago, with terrible flooding, will happen more often."

But campaigners now claim this conflicts with the government's current policy on offsets.

And because a VER costs about €7 (£6.32) compared to the cost of CERs at €11, the lack of government approval will mean fewer emissions are offset for the amount of money spent.

The government says it wants to reassure businesses that are nervous about their carbon not being properly offset, as carbon offsetting has received bad press over the past few years.

“The aim of this voluntary scheme is to provide clarity and give confidence to consumers wishing to offset their emissions, by allowing use of a quality mark for carbon offsets verified according to the most robust standards currently available," said a spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

They say it is natural to err on the side of caution and they may approve VERs in the future – meanwhile companies that want to invest in them can do so should they be satisfied themselves with the quality assurances given.

But ICROA says that the VER standards are already the equivalent of those used in the CDM and have backing from a number of respected NGOs – all that government reticence is achieving is a lack of investment.