Last week’s White House announcement launching the New Principles For Responsible Participation in Voluntary Carbon Market’ offers regulatory clarity, bolsters buyer confidence and represents a framework to embrace the potential for the market to combat climate change.
It’s the latest move from US officials to encourage and stimulate Voluntary Carbon Market activity from US companies. Today, the largest corporations are already required to publicly disclose their offsetting strategy and purchases, but these new principles will help ensure their effectiveness and transparency.
Seven principles for an equitable and effective Voluntary Carbon Market
Quadriz recognises and advocates for Voluntary Carbon Markets and their power to fund vital climate and decarbonisation projects.
In recent years organisations such as the Integrity Council for Voluntary Carbon Markets have made great efforts to apply its own rigorous project standards and steer the market with integrity and credibility.
The latest White House guidance builds on this with the following seven principles:
- Carbon credits and the activities that generate them should meet credible atmospheric integrity standards and represent real decarbonization.
- Credit-generating activities should avoid environmental and social harm and should, where applicable, support co-benefits and transparent and inclusive benefits-sharing.
- Corporate buyers that use credits should prioritise measurable emissions reductions within their own value chains.
- Credit users should publicly disclose the nature of purchased and retired credits.
- Public claims by credit users should accurately reflect the climate impact of retired credits and should only rely on credits that meet high integrity standards.
- Market participants should contribute to efforts that improve market integrity.
- Policymakers and market participants should facilitate efficient market participation
The application of these robust standards will regulate the supply and demand of carbon credits, kickstart improved “high-integrity, well-functioning Voluntary Carbon Markets” and further accelerate decarbonisation.
The White House stated this would ensure “fair and equitable treatment of all participants and advancing environmental justice, including fair distribution of revenue, and instilling market confidence.”
Leadership in decarbonisation with high-integrity offsets
This latest White House statement sends a clear and unequivocal message: offsets are an effective and fundamental mechanism for global decarbonisation.
Leading US policymakers backed the new principles, with former US Climate Envoy John Kerry previously publicly voicing his support for high-integrity Voluntary Carbon Market at the UN climate talks last December.
The US is emerging as a strong proponent that will spearhead further development and leadership of high-integrity offsets, which Quadriz hopes will see other nations follow suit.
Co-benefits beyond decarbonisation
One focus of the principles for participation was to uphold projects that support co-benefits – these can be social, economic or additional environmental impacts like conservation.
REDD+ projects such as Quadriz’ work in the Paraguayan Chaco deliver these measurable co-benefits and go beyond decarbonisation.
As such, nature-based solutions to scale-up carbon removal are among the most popular on the Voluntary Carbon Market. The biodiversity and conservation benefits achieved through the preservation and restoration of forest habitats and the wildlife within are a key driver of demand.
The White House statement commented on how effective projects support economic development, and help sustain livelihoods of indigenous peoples, local communities as well as conserving biodiversity and water ecosystems.
“With these high standards in place, corporate buyers and others will be able to channel significant, necessary financial resources to combat climate change through Voluntary Carbon Markets,” the White House statement said.
To learn more about Quadriz REDD+ project in the Paraguayan Chaco and purchase offsets talk to our team.
