Voluntary Carbon Market tripled in 2006
14th September 2007 by Alex Briggs
The voluntary carbon market tripled in 2006, according to a comprehensive research paper by Ecosystem Marketplace and New Carbon Finance. That said, the voluntary market is still miniscule in comparison to the different regulated markets in operation around the globe.
The Voluntary market has been in the spotlight over the past months, with major global brands such as Dell, Yahoo!, Google and Nike publicly committing to buying offsets from the voluntary market in the near future. Inevitably, along with these announcements, came the media. This Time Magazine article and Reuters article were two of many that questioned the credibility, transparency and relevance of of an unregulated voluntary market.
The need for a standardised methodology for all voluntary carbon schemes has never been more relevant than now. With the market set to boom, it is vital that both business and consumers have trust in voluntary schemes.
The voluntary carbon trading market offers a flexibility and innovation that is more difficult to find on the regulatory side. Dr. Sally Uren, Director, Forum for the Future, said
“What happens in the voluntary market is that you get a lot of innovation and a lot of carbon offset projects that give you huge amounts of additionality in terms of wider sustainability benefits.”
Further, the voluntary market is thriving in those areas where the regulatory market has yet to get a firm grip, with the Ecosystem/New Carbon survey respondents indicating that 68% of their customers were based in the US, and the percentage of projects being carried out in Africa double that of the percentage of Clean Develeopment Mechanism (CDM) projects. The survey went on to add,
“Voluntary carbon markets have historically served as sources of experimentation and innovation in the carbon markets, as well as the markets most likely to reach poorer and smaller communities in developing countries.”
What is being done to bring a stronger sense of confidence to the voluntary market? The Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) is currently being updated, with version 2 due to be published in the coming months. The organisations behind the development of the VCS: IETA, TCG, WEF and WBCSD have all been heavily involved in developing and creating transparent, effective climate change programmes and policy. Their credibility is crucial is establishing a VCS that will be seen by both consumers and business as credible and beneficial to the planet.
Here are some links to information about the proposed VCS as well as the process of developing version 2.
The Climate Group
The IETA press release announcing Version 2
Here are some links background information about version 1 of the VCS in 2006
Climate Biz take on VCS version 1
Here is information on the UK parliament website on the voluntary carbon market as a whole.
DISCLOSURES:
1) The climate change section editor of businessassurance.com, Dr. Anne-Marie Warris, has been retained by the steering committee of the VCS to be the author of an ISO compatible version 2.
2) The Dr. Sally Uren quote was taken from a businessassurance.com interview that will be part of an upcoming episode in the climate change podcast series.
