Morgan Stanley unveils offset one-stop-shop

Morgan Stanley has launched a new service this week, which it claims will make it the first one-stop-shop for firms looking to offset their carbon emissions.

The Morgan Stanley Carbon Bank has been set up in partnership with emissions certification firm Det Norske Veritas (DNV) and aims to package together all the services required to offset a firm's carbon emissions.

Under the service, DNV will verify firms own emission calculations in line with ISO 14064 standards while Morgan Stanley's Commodities Group will procure and cancel carbon credits equivalent to the client's footprint. Firms will be able to select where the credits come from but Morgan Stanley insists all will be in line with the standards of the Kyoto Protocol.

Clients signing up to the service will then receive a "carbon zero" certificate from Morgan Stanley and DNV.

The move is likely to attract criticism from some environmentalists who have expressed doubts about the effectiveness of offset schemes and object to the use of the term "zero carbon" on the grounds it can remove the incentive for firms to act to reduce their direct carbon emissions.

However, Morgan Stanley maintained that the new service would help bring much needed credibility to the voluntary offset market and make it far easier for firms to acquire properly audited and certified carbon credits.

"We are pleased to offer clients a transparent and credible way to verify and offset greenhouse gas emissions," said Simon Greenshields, global head of power, power fuels and carbon trading at Morgan Stanley. "This is the first service we have seen giving clients a single source for everything from certifying emissions to buying and cancelling carbon credits, all in accordance with the highest international standards."

The new service was welcomed by David Yarnold, executive vice president at lobby group Environmental Defense, who argued it would bring greater certainty to the voluntary carbon market. "Although the regulated carbon market is based on environmentally effective and standardised procedures, it has been difficult for companies to find a high-quality, standards-based service to offset their emissions in the voluntary market," he said.

Businesses are also likely to welcome the new service following a series of scandals that have uncovered emission reduction projects that have failed to deliver advertised cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

These revelations have undermined the credibility of the offsetting model and forced firms engaged in offsetting to invest more in auditing their offset programmes, driving up costs and management overheads. A one-stop-shop that promises to take the whole process off of their hands, while ensuring all projects are in line with international standards is likely to appeal to the growing numbers of firms interested in offsetting but keen to limit the hassle of auditing projects themselves.