COMMENT: In defence of nature-based carbon offsets
Carbon offsets are not the solution to climate change, nor should they be the central pillar of any country or government’s net zero plans. But they are very important in the short and medium term because many emissions that cannot be reduced away can be offset, taking that damaging CO2 back out of the atmosphere, writes Ed Mitchard, chief scientist at UK-headquartered nature tech firm Space Intelligence.
Read MoreCOMMENT: Including high-quality J-REDD+ can help the ICVCM accelerate a just transition, integrity, and scale in the voluntary carbon market
Jurisdictional REDD+ (J-REDD+) programmes can be a critical means for the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) to achieve its objectives of scale, integrity, and a just transition, argue Mark Moroge, Breanna Lujan, and Julia Paltseva of the Environmental Defense Fund.
Read MoreCOMMENT: The need for clarity around corporate climate claims – a review of the defining elements of corporate climate claims
While public, private, and hybrid efforts are emerging that seek to better govern climate-related claims, currently the engagement of companies in voluntary carbon markets is greatly hampered by the lack of understanding and clarity around the types of claims that can be accurately and credibly made when integrating carbon credits into corporate climate strategies. A recently published academic paper seeks to review and define the core elements of such claims.
Read MoreCOMMENT: Solar Radiation Modification – an additional tool to fight global warming?
Solar Radiation Modification might provide an auxiliary tool to help reduce climate risk, limit suffering, lessen ecosystem degradation and improve the chances of sustainable development, but SRM is far from perfect, write scientists Claudia Wieners, Ben Hofbauer, Iris de Vries, Matthias Honegger, Daniele Visioni, Herman Russchenberg, and Tyler Felgenhauer in an open letter already supported by around 50 global scientists.
Read MoreCOMMENT: Evolving climate science, carbon accounting, and the need to support urgent action
The ongoing need to evaluate and refine accounting methods, incorporating new data and new understanding, is not a fatal flaw in the AFOLU market, rather it is a natural and essential process so that market-based finance can be delivered more efficiently and urgently to fight climate change and conserve forests around the world, write David Shoch, Scott Settelmyer, and Rebecca Dickson, of TerraCarbon LLC.
Read MoreCOMMENT: How the voluntary carbon market can help decarbonize cement
As investment begins to pour into decarbonization technologies and innovative infrastructure projects sprout across the globe, the new energy economy faces a conundrum: carbon-intensive building materials. Project developers and sustainability consultants ClimeCo discuss how companies can use the voluntary carbon markets to help decarbonise their cement-related emissions.
Read MoreANNOUNCEMENT: Call for Expression of Interest to join the Climate Action Data Trust User Forum
Climate Action Data Trust is launching a Call for Expression of Interest to join the CAD Trust User Forum. We are looking for a variety of stakeholders across the carbon market value chain, from both the public and private sector. Applicants who meet the necessary criteria are encouraged to submit their interest online.
Read MoreCOMMENT: Voluntary carbon markets – still broken but signs of a breakthrough?
Voluntary carbon markets have come under fire in recent weeks with questions raised of the merits of a range of projects across the world. While the headlines are of course disappointing and knock confidence in the sector as a whole, the greater scrutiny is welcomed to ensure carbon credits deliver the climate impact they are designed to offer and to provide sufficient return on capital to carbon-reducing projects to stimulate more such projects, writes Louis Redshaw of Redshaw Advisors.
Read MoreCOMMENT: Six questions to resolve in order for carbon markets to deliver more for nature
Carbon markets can be an incredibly important tool to finance nature-based solutions at the scale required to be meaningful on a global scale, however, there are some serious questions which must be resolved as soon as possible if verified (not just voluntary) carbon markets are to deliver their full potential for nature, writes Ed Hewitt of Respira.
Read MoreCOMMENT: One Planet, One Paris Agreement, One Carbon Standard and Accounting System
Concerns over the quality of carbon credits from Verra’s forestry projects are making headlines again, calling into question the validity of REDD+. This is a shame since ending deforestation is key to achieving a 1.5C world. But there is a solution, the UNFCCC REDD+ mechanism, write Kevin Conrad and Federica Bietta of the Coalition for Rainforest Nations (CfRN).
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