Publication Name

KICK THE HABIT

THE CYCLE – OFFSET

174

creating between 10–20 million tonnes of CO

equivalent will have been

approved under the VCS Programme by the end of 2008.

The VCS was developed by the International Emissions Trading Association

(IETA), The Climate Group (TCG), the World Business Council for Sustain-

able Development (WBCSD) and the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Further reading:

A report was published in March 2008 by the WWF which explains main

criteria and compares carbon offset standards:

downloads/vcm_report_final.pdf

How to choose?

Customers in the non-legally binding voluntary market are able to purchase

both credits which originate from the compliance market and credits which

originate from the voluntary market. This means if you are not required

by law to buy offsets that are recognized by the Kyoto Protocol (from CDM

of JI projects) other legally binding systems such as the Chicago Climate

Exchange you have the free choice what to go for. Criteria you may want to

consider are reliability, additional benefits such as sustainability and envi-

ronmental benefits, price and compatibility of the project with your own

interests. For example a shipping company might find it more attractive

to invest in a marine project than in a tree planting project, or maybe you

would prefer to invest in a portfolio rather than in a single project. Together

with the standards described above and others, offset providers and brokers

should be able to give the relevant information you need.

A widely cited report on carbon offset providers prepared by the Tufts Cli-

mate Initiative is available at

sets_Paper_April-2-07.pdf

. Other websites that compare offset companies

are for example The Carbon Catalogue,

or EcoBusinessLinks,

its_carbon_reduction.htm

The table on pages 176–177 summarizes the findings from the Tufts Cli-

mate Initiative report and also includes recommendations on carbon offset

providers by the initiative.