The WWF has issued a new report that aims to make it easier for firms and consumers to make sense of the growing number of carbon offsetting standards that have emerged in recent years.
The Making Sense of the Voluntary Carbon Market: A Comparison of Carbon Offset Standards report assesses the growing market for both official and voluntary carbon offset credits and compares eight leading offset standards: the UN Clean Development Mechanism; Gold Standard; Voluntary Carbon Standard 2007; VER+; Chicago Climate Exchange; Voluntary Offset Standard; Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standards; and Plan Vivo.
The report assesses the merits of the various different standards and analyses the criteria they use to judge offsets credibility, including the additionality tests they carry out, the types of projects they exclude and whether or not they use a credit registry to tackle the problem of double counting.
It found that currently each standard has a different focus, with none so far emerging as the industry standard. It also argued that the different voluntary standards each boast different merits and pitfalls, noting that "some closely mirror compliance market standards while others take a more lenient approach in order to lessen the administrative burden [on carbon reduction projects]".
Keith Allott, climate change spokesman for WWF, said the number of standards in the market can be confusing for businesses and individuals. But he also argued that there was a case for a range of different standards on the ground that when selecting one over-arching standard there could be a temptation to use more relaxed criteria that enable as many credits as possible to enter the market.
The report also offers support to the embryonic offset industry, which has faced hefty criticism in recent years, with some commentators arguing it distracts from the more important issue of reducing carbon emissions at source.
The WWF report recognises these concerns, but argues the sector is delivering "sustainability co-benefits through technology transfer and capacity building". It also argues that the rapidly expanding voluntary offset market allows for broad public and corporate participation with environmental issues.
Environmental Audit Committee report insists offsetting can play a "useful role" in cutting emissions 23 Jul 2007
Forum for the Future insists voluntary offset projects are delivering both environmental and development benefits 30 Jun 2008Federal Trade Commission receives letter from 10 US states calling for stricter rules for the burgeoning carbon offset industry 30 Jan 2008
Guide urges firm to distinguish between robust offsets and credit schemes that have been developed for different purposes 09 Apr 2008
Intelligent Energy ramps up funding for R&D and partnerships 04 Jul 2008
Focus on energy savings through fuel efficiency for homes and public and commercial buildings 04 Jul 2008
ActionAid accuses G8 of driving more people into poverty by pursing biofuels and cutting agri-aid 04 Jul 2008
More news
Businesses' new found focus on the environment may be welcome, but according to Conrad MacKerron, it is taking attention away from workers' rights issues – and the credibility of the entire green business movement could be at risk 03 Jul 2008
It may be a year old, but as Dell's Jonathan Perry explains, firms looking to get rid of their old IT kit still need to pay attention to the WEEE directive 02 Jul 2008
Telling customers about your environmental targets is all well and good but, as Paul Thomas argues, they are meaningless if you do not know how they are to be achieved 01 Jul 2008 More in-depth
Post your comment
Send an email to the Business Green editor at feedback@businessgreen.com
