Green house effect

Making the voluntary carbon markets work for the poor

Date: 

30 Jun 2008

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The voluntary carbon market has come under scrutiny as it has mushroomed to $258 million in 2007, and its ability to reduce emissions and effect significant change in corporate behaviour is strongly debated. In this debate, the potential for the voluntary carbon market to
deliver positive benefits, particularly for people in poorer countries,
has been largely overlooked. Our report brings this area into focus.

The voluntary carbon market has come under scrutiny as it has mushroomed to $258 million in 2007, and its ability to reduce emissions and effect significant change in corporate behaviour is strongly debated. In this debate, the potential for the voluntary carbon market to
deliver positive benefits, particularly for people in poorer countries,
has been largely overlooked. Our report brings this area into focus.

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Making the voluntary carbon markets work for the poor

The voluntary carbon market – where institutions and individuals can buy carbon reductions, usually to offset their own carbon emissions – is experiencing rapid growth.  International trades rose from $58.5 million in 2006 to $258 million in 2007. But as actvity has increased, concerns have been expressed that the voluntary carbon market is a distraction and, worse, that it undermines the need for fundamental change in corporate and individual behaviour. The quality of the credits being offered on the market has also come under scrutiny. In this debate, the potential for the voluntary carbon market to deliver positive benefits, particularly for people in poorer countries, has been largely overlooked.

Forum for the Future's crucial report Making the voluntary carbon markets work for the poor distils a series of interviews with a wide range of experts. It explores the opportunities, the barriers and the actions that should now be taken to make the market more effective in delivering both carbon reductions and sustainable development.

Findings:

• Small-scale grass-roots projects, particularly in energy and forestry, are benefitting from a thriving voluntary carbon market.
• Clear standards are vital in maintaining the credibility of the market.
• But the system should not be rigid and mechanical. It is critical to leave space for innovation and for meaningful connections between buyers of carbon credits and the projects they support.

Download now: Making the voluntary carbon markets work for the poor

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Getting to zero: defining corporate carbon neutrality

As concerns about climate change grow, the concept of 'carbon neutrality' has captured the corporate imagination, being embraced by organisations as diverse as airlines, ice-cream makers and reinsurance giants. But this apparently simple concept - that a company, or one of its products or services, can have no net impact on climate - is surrounded by controversy, and a wide range of assumptions and actions lie behind the claims that have been made.

The ambition to have zero net impact on climate is a powerful one, and a goal of neutrality has the potential to drive ongoing change within an organisation - while also promoting shared responsibility with suppliers and customers for emissions beyond the organisation's immediate control.

This report is intended to move us towards a consensus regarding any claim of neutrality. It explores a number of the claims that have been made so far and makes a series of recommendations about what should lie behind any declaration of neutrality.

Download now: Getting to zero: defining corporate carbon neutrality

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