Carbon Offsets & Carbon Trading
For a primer on Carbon Offsets, please see the 2 page fact sheet entitled: “Carbon Offsets – An Introduction: What are they and how do they work?”
Why the Attention:
Climate change represents a serious threat throughout the globe. Concerted action from governments, business and other international organizations is both complex and necessary. The task seems as daunting as it is urgent. Yet, many individuals and organizations have taken a positive, action oriented approach recognizing that there is tangible value in conservation, energy efficiency and “green” initiatives.
Many corporations have voluntarily set targets for green house gas (GHG) reductions or “carbon neutrality” as an initiative for corporate social responsibility or pre-compliance risk management. Other firms are looking to invest in the GHG reduction effort as a key component of their future revenue streams. In any case, the “carbon market” is receiving unprecedented attention. As companies embark on this journey, they often find that the investments (time and capital) needed to reduce their carbon footprint will require a broad portfolio of initiatives – including the purchasing of “offsets”.
Offsets represent the act of reducing or avoiding GHG emissions in one place to counter balance emissions occurring somewhere else.
The Compliance or Regulated Market Lessons from Compliance – The Voluntary MarketHow does Valmar add value in the Carbon Trading Markets?
Valmar and Associates, LLC serves as a consultant, originator/broker and advocate for corporations who are interested in either originating or acquiring CERs / VERs as part of their GHG reduction effort. We are independent advisors and we guide you through the various alternatives in the burgeoning market.
Valmar’s Verified Emission Reduction (VER) Program has been created based on the model of the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and principally utilizes the protocols & standards of the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) and the Climate Action Reserve. We have chosen this model in that we believe this will provide corporations with the broadest assurance of credibility. We want to provide the greatest assurance that the voluntary standards being developed will meet future international and likely U.S. “cap and trade” regulations. By mirroring these stringent requirements, the credits traded will have credible and transparent market value.
There is currently no regulatory body overseeing the activities of the voluntary market. However, the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA), along with The Climate Group and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development has been leading the effort to standardize the criteria. The main tenets behind these criteria are that GHG emissions reductions offsets must be real (have happened), additional (beyond business-as-usual activities), measurable & permanent (not temporarily displace emissions) and independently verified and unique / enforceable (not used more than once to offset emissions). In addition, Valmar works to ensure that GHG reduction projects also contribute to the sustainable development in the region where the projects are located.
Learn more about the Valmar’s Offset Origination process – click on the Valmar Project Cycle . . .
The Valmar Project Cycle
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