Tag Archives: carbon
Gold Standard Expands: New Quality Label For Forest Climate Projects
by S. C. For years, the ForestFinance Group, based in Bonn, Germany, has successfully implemented projects according to the CarbonFix Standard under the brand CO2OL. Now, the Gold Standard Foundation has extended its original renewable energy and energy efficiency project scope into land-use and forests and acquired the CarbonFix Standard which will form a core part of “Gold Standard version 3.0”. However, this will have no effect on the strict quality criteria that had to be met by CarbonFix projects: these will also be applied to Gold Standard projects. Projects such as the forest climate protection project „CO2OL Tropical Mix“ that have been validated and verified according to the CarbonFix Standard will therefore become so-called “Transition Projects” that will now be managed by the Gold Standard. CarbonFix and Gold Standard guarantee additionality of carbon forest projects ”The Gold Standard guarantees the CO2 fixing, the permanence and additional social and ecological benefits of our carbon forest projects in the same way as the CarbonFix Standard before,“ explains Dirk Walterspacher, CEO Carbon Business of the ForestFinance Group. “As the project developer with the greatest expertise in the development of CarbonFix projects, CO2OL offers the most diverse portfolio of so called “Transition Projects” that are from now on managed by the Gold Standard.“ Project developer CO2OL: climate protection standards pioneer with expertise For more than 14 years, CO2OL has managed high-quality climate protection afforestation projects for numerous companies and organisations. „CO2OL Tropical Mix“ was the world’s first reforestation project to be verified according to the CarbonFix Standard, thereby proving its transparent and effective CO2 fixing. Apart from this project in Panama, CO2OL holds a portfolio of projects in Bolivia and Ethiopia that are now also transition projects. Thus, CO2OL has the biggest existing portfolio in the field of high-quality forest climate protection projects. “Gold Standard will increase demand for high-quality carbon forest projects” „It has always been an attractive option for companies to voluntarily compensate greenhouse gas emissions by establishing new forest ecosystems, particularly as these projects also address other sustainability aspects such as biodiversity and value chains in the project countries. Due to their high emotionality and low complexity, they are perfect for communicating the company‘s commitment to customers,“ says Walterspacher. „The fact that these projects now can be certified according to the Gold Standard will increase the demand for high-quality carbon forest projects significantly.“ Apart from the possibility to buy carbon credits from the three projects that have already been certified under the Carbon Fix Standard, CO2OL also offers to establish „company forests“ as individual forest climate projects. by S. C. 28 May 2013 Teatro Naturale International n. 5 Year 5 Continue reading
World Bank Reduces UN Offset Supply Forecast as Price Slumps
By Alessandro Vitelli May 29, 2013 The World Bank revised down its projection for the supply of United Nations carbon offsets in the eight years through 2020 by 30 percent, after a collapse in prices deterred projects that generate the credits. Supply of UN Certified Emission Reductions and Emission Reduction Units will be about 1.9 billion metric tons in the period, the lender said in a report released today, revising down an estimate of 2.7 billion made a year earlier. Demand will be about 1.6 billion tons, creating a surplus of 300 million, the World Bank said, without providing a comparable figure. Front-year CER futures plunged 99 percent from their peak in July 2008 to a record 20 euro cents ($0.26) a ton last month as regulators in the European Union struggled to tackle a glut of emissions permits in the bloc’s market. The December contract rose 2.6 percent to 40 euro cents at 2:32 p.m. on London’s ICE Futures Europe exchange. “The price of primary CERs is lower than the cost of issuance for many projects,” Alex Kossoy, a senior finance specialist at the World Bank, said today at a press conference in Barcelona. “Without substantial change it’s doubtful many projects will continue to pursue issuance of credits.” Project Slump Carbon offsets allow buyers to acquire emissions-reduction credits more cheaply than it would cost to reduce pollution at home. The EU’s emissions market allowed power stations and factories to use offsets equivalent to about 14 percent of their total greenhouse-gas output in the five years through 2012. The UN credits are created by projects in developing countries, such as Vietnam, or economies in transition, including Russia. The number of offset projects seeking approval by the UN’s regulator, the Clean Development Mechanism Executive Board, slumped to 17 in February 2013, compared with 256 at the same time last year, the report showed. In March, the number was 18 compared with 278 in 2012. “Some analysts forecast an 80 percent year-on-year reduction in the number of projects submitted for validation in 2013 compared with 2012,” the World Bank said. Most of the demand for UN offsets will come from companies participating in the European Union Emissions Trading System and EU member countries looking to meet caps on discharges under the Kyoto Protocol. Several countries that had previously bought offsets as part of their commitment to the first period of the Kyoto Protocol that ended last year, haven’t signed on to a second Kyoto period, curtailing their demand for credits. ‘Political Commitment’ “A high-level political commitment from a large number of developed countries will be needed to encourage new investment” in offset projects, Kossoy said. The report doesn’t calculate the value or size of the global market as it has done in previous years. Instead, it represents a “one-stop shop” for details and analysis of all current and new emissions-trading systems and carbon taxes around the world, according to Kossoy. “Current market conditions invalidate any attempt and interest to undertake the same qualitative and transaction-based analysis,” he said. To contact the reporter on this story: Alessandro Vitelli in London at avitelli1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Lars Paulsson at lpaulsson@bloomberg.net Continue reading
Saint Lucia Signs Up For The Carbon War Room’s ‘Ten Island Renewable Challenge’
23 May 2013 Saint Lucia announced its intention to move towards a clean energy future by becoming the next economy to join Carbon War Room’s Ten Island Challenge, at the Caribbean Conservation Summit held on Necker Island, co-hosted by Sir Richard Branson, the Prime Minister of Grenada, and Premier of the British Virgin Islands. Launched at Rio+20 Summit in June 2012, by Branson’s entrepreneur initiative Carbon War Room and Christiana Figueres, Executive Director of the UNFCCC , the Ten Island Challenge aims to work with pioneering island economies to reduce dependency on fossil fuels through the acceleration of commercial opportunities on islands , attracting expert engineering firms and investment. “Solving the energy challenge and marine conservation challenge in the Caribbean go hand-in-hand. I am very pleased that Saint Lucia has decided to join the Challenge – and hope more neighbouring islands will follow,” said Branson. “We are joining the Ten Island Challenge because it is consistent with the goals of our government to develop a renewable energy sector and transition to a Green Economy,” said James Fletcher, Saint Lucia’s Minister of Sustainable Development & Energy. “We want to develop a renewables “blueprint’ using those islands that are ready today – and provide replicable models for many more communities isolated by water, desert or just distance from the grid,” said Jose Maria Figueres, President of the Carbon War Room. Saint Lucia is focusing its efforts to transition off fossil fuels through a range of initiatives from renewable energies as well as waste and water efficiency, said Carbon War Room. Although sustainability and low carbon plans aren’t new to island economies, successful implementation has so far been a problem. Carbon War Room said the Ten Island Challenge will highlight the opportunities on the island and that the initiative will reach out globally for the best solutions and most competitive bids. Saint Lucia joins its Caribbean neighbor, Aruba – who signed up for the challenge in 2012. Branson and Virgin Limited Edition have also taken an interest in the project, offering Necker Island as ‘demo site’ to launch a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the installation of renewable energy solutions. Issued in February, the RFP has already attracted a multitude of bids from USA, Europe, Asia and the Caribbean, and installation of both wind and solar solutions take place later in the year, said Carbon War Room. The announcement was made at the Caribbean Challenge Initiative (CCI) Summit of Political and Business Leaders, convened today on Necker Island/BVI. The two-day Summit brings together heads of state and corporate leaders to address the opportunity to protect the critical natural marine environment of the Caribbean region. Transforming Island energy systems to renewable sources is critical to marine and coastal conservation, and is imperative to the economic growth of the region, said Carbon War Room. Continue reading
