Saturday, 04 Sep 2010
You are here: Home Voluntary Offset Markets
Voluntary Offset Markets Print

A  voluntary offset project has its GHG emission reductions certified under a voluntary certification process and can be traded on the so-called carbon voluntary market.

Ensuring compliance is done via use of established and well-known standards such as Gold Standard, Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) 2007, VER+ Standard, CCB-Standard, or Social Carbon Methodology.

Typical quality requirements for voluntary offset projects are:

  • Additionality: emission reduction projects in voluntary markets are required to be additional, which means that targeted reductions would not have been realized without the the very carbon project object of the financing.
  • Project type: typical project types accepted by various voluntary standards are: 

    • REDD: Reduced Emissions from Degradation and Deforestation

    EE: Energy efficiency

    RE: Renewable Energy

    LULUCF: Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry

    Although many different projects could qualify for a voluntary scheme, not all will insure a sustainable environmental integrity. Adverse impacts of such projects as large monoculture or large hydro projects might indeed endup in the rejection of such project by some standards. A comprehensive and clear understanding of of a particular project's features are therefore key prior including it into a particular portfolio.

  • Third party verification required: to minimize the number of free riders, most standards require external verificiation of the reductions from certified parties.
  • Co-benefits with regards to CDM/JI projects: does the voluntary project help address weaknesses of the current CDM initiatives and foster climate mitigation?
  • Projects registry: allowing the centralization and follow-up of projects statuses, registries enable a necessary degree of transparency and public access to the project information. An typical voluntary project registry is the Voluntary Carbon Standard projects  database.

    •  

    For further information, do not hesitate to enquire.