November 19, 2008

New Carbon Standard Set for Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use

The Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) recently launched at the London Stock Exchange. It is being touted as the first time a standardized approach has included land use projects including forestry and agriculture and made them accessible to all market players in the $330 million voluntary carbon market.

VCS rules allow agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU) projects to generate carbon credits that are interchangeable with other carbon credits generated by non-AFOLU activities such as energy and industrial projects.

The VCS rules were developed over an 18 month period and included consultation with industry, NGOs and market specialists. It is backed by the Climate Group, the International Emissions Trading Association and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

The Voluntary Carbon Standard was formed in 2007 by three of the biggest sellers and buyers of carbon offsets to distinguish offsets that are real from those that aren’t.

With so many different carbon offset standards to choose from, the Stockholm Environment Institute, wrote a report titled, “Making Sense of the Voluntary Carbon Market: A Comparison of Carbon Offset Standards,” to help gain an insight at the voluntary carbon offset market.

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