ECOSYSTEM MARKETPLACE – Shades of REDD+: ART, JNR or GCF… Which is Best for Countries?
Carbon finance is growing and countries are faced with an array of choices—including whether to pursue projects, nesting or jurisdictional REDD+, which standards to use in doing so, and what finance opportunity to pursue. The landscape can be a confusing array of options. In this contribution to the Shades of REDD+ series, targeted for forest countries, we try to demystify three opportunities to capture finance for jurisdictional REDD+ performance.
Read MoreCOMMENT: Assessing co-benefits in the voluntary carbon market
The private sector Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets (TSVCM) has collectively arrived at a solution for what ‘co-benefits’ should count as part of a carbon credit. It believes this will help maintain quality in the market, increase transparency and also create a mechanism to develop an appropriate pricing benchmark for these ‘co-benefits’, according to Chris Leeds of Standard Chartered.
Read MoreECOSYSTEM MARKETPLACE – Claims+Credibility: Embracing Diversification to Scale Carbon Markets
If total greenhouse gas emissions in new or updated country plans offer a mere 0.5% reduction, greater ambition is needed from governments to fill this gap. Can a robust voluntary carbon market play an important role in this context?
Read MoreCOMMENT: Climate action claims are the new frontier for robust carbon accounting
Instruments to reduce emissions need to be clearly ranked for their environmental integrity and associated with robust claims that provide an accurate representation of the impacts achieved, argues Marion Verles of SustainCERT, adding that having civil society formulate a consensus on what can and can’t be done with offsets would go a long way in reassuring corporates and citizens that the market is trustworthy.
Read MoreECOSYSTEM MARKETPLACE – Shades of REDD+: The Risk of Diverting Carbon Finance from Nature to Technological Carbon Removals
Increasingly, engineered carbon removal technologies are pitched against nature-based solutions to tackle the climate crisis – particularly in the voluntary carbon markets. Will forests be passed over to benefit from carbon finance – again?
Read MoreCOMMENT: New claims for a new era of private sector carbon finance
The voluntary carbon market can build a common understanding for a new financing claim beyond offsetting that represents the same commitment of taking responsibility for unabated emissions by mitigating carbon beyond boundaries, writes Sarah Leugers of Gold Standard.
Read MoreCOMMENT: We’re still in – let’s align the voluntary carbon market with Paris rather than play by our own rules
Corresponding adjustments will be needed in the future whenever a carbon credit is used to offset emissions, to help ensure the promise is kept that the atmosphere is no worse off, argues Hugh Salway of voluntary carbon market certifier Gold Standard,
Read MoreCOMMENT: Quality counts – scaling voluntary offsetting the right way
Owen Hewlett of Gold Standard welcomes the Taskforce to Scale the Voluntary Carbon Market’s intention to make sure companies can take responsibility for their emissions, but argues that scale alone should not be the marker of success.
Read MoreCOMMENT: WWF ‘Blueprint for Corporate Action on Climate & Nature’ – Key takeaways for the voluntary carbon market
In Dec. 2020, WWF published a ‘Blueprint for Corporate Action on Climate and Nature’, setting out a vision for how companies should follow the mitigation hierarchy to address the climate emergency, informed by science and the Paris policy environment. Here are Gold Standard’s key takeaways for the voluntary carbon market.
Read MoreCOMMENT: Scaling the voluntary carbon markets without sacrificing quality
The TSVCM rightly calls for science-based target setting in tandem with robust carbon offsetting, clear claims guidance for credible communications and broad public support, and long-term corporate commitments and futures contracts to de-risk project development. Yet having sat in Taskforce discussions and observed several emerging instruments that seek to operationalise the forthcoming ‘blueprint,’ Gold Standard’s Owen Hewlett spots several concerns about the quality of what is meant to scale.
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