![]() ![]() ![]() The value of such carbon credits is determined by supply and demand, influenced by the perceived quality of the auditing company. Upon issuance, credits are sold on the market to businesses and individuals for use in offsetting their carbon emissions, or to resell to others. The function of Verra and other accreditors is to ensure a project’s effectiveness in offsetting greenhouse gases and issuing carbon credits. Other widely known accreditors include Gold Standard, American Carbon Registry, and Climate Action Reserve. The most well-known accreditor at the moment is Verra, as it holds 70% of the market volume. The Southern Cardamom REDD+ Project implemented by my organization, Wildlife Alliance, protects 1.2 million acres of tropical forest and helps support the livelihood of the 29 communities through benefit sharing.Įthical and scientific standards for carbon offset schemes are developed by an accreditor. REDD+ projects have been instrumental in protecting the forests and enhancing forest-community livelihoods across Cambodia. Overall, this is my favorite category of carbon offset schemes as it protects biodiversity and enhances community livelihoods. REDD+ projects are aimed at stopping deforestation in developing countries, and as a condition, require project proponents to invest in rural community livelihoods to address one of the key drivers of forest degradation-poverty. To create these carbon credits depends on a well calculated scheme of deforestation avoidance within a Carbon Accounting Area. Lastly, land-use offset schemes, the main of which is avoided deforestation through the Reduction of Emissions through Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD), sequester carbon to produce carbon credits. Energy transition schemes are the newest form of carbon offsetting projects on the market. Unlike other offset schemes it prevents the production of CO2 rather than sequesters what is emitted to the atmosphere. Applying accrediting methodology fast-tracks the development and volume of renewable energy. Switching to renewable energy such as solar and wind can often be difficult as it requires a large financial investment. This is the newest framework of carbon-offset projects aimed at incentivizing decarbonization in energy production. It is a practice that should only be applied to hard-to-abate sectors where no other options for reducing emissions are feasible given modern technology.Įnergy transition projects phase out high-emitting fossil fuels by utilizing new energy producing methodologies. I view carbon capture as a temporary solution on the road to net zero. Carbon capture technology may play an important role in the road to net zero, but I prefer nature-based solutions that have added benefits for biodiversity and communities. CO2 may also be injected into materials such as cement. Blue carbon projects produce credits from the restoration and management of coastal ecosystems, with the added bonus of protecting marine biodiversity.Ĭarbon capture schemes employ technology to compress and concentrate CO2 from the atmosphere and inject it into underground geologic storage reservoirs. They store more carbon per unit area than old growth forest, and protect the coast from storms and erosion. These ecosystems include mangroves, tidal salt marshes, and seagrass meadows. Blue carbon schemes store CO2 in below-ground rich soil pools of coastal and marine environments.
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