What is a high-quality carbon credit?
A high-quality carbon credit represents a measurable, verifiable, and additional reduction or removal of greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere. Here’s a breakdown of the key characteristics:
Measurable: The emissions reductions associated with the project that generated the credit must be quantifiable. This ensures transparency and allows for accurate assessment of the climate impact.
Verifiable: Independent third-party verification is crucial. This confirms that the claimed emissions reductions actually occurred and were not due to other factors. Reputable verification bodies ensure the legitimacy of the credit.
Additional: The emissions reductions achieved by the project wouldn’t have happened anyway. This ensures the credit represents a real and positive impact on the climate.
Permanent: Ideally, the emissions reductions achieved by the project should be long-lasting. For example, reforestation projects that store carbon in trees for decades would generate higher quality credits compared to projects with temporary effects.
Leakage Avoided: The project shouldn’t lead to increased emissions elsewhere. For instance, a project that protects a forest might be disqualified if the saved trees are simply logged in another location.
In addition to these core aspects, high-quality carbon credits may also consider:
Social and environmental co-benefits: Does the project generate positive social or environmental outcomes alongside emissions reductions? For example, does it create jobs in local communities or improve biodiversity?
Alignment with broader sustainability goals: Does the project contribute to achieving other environmental objectives besides climate change mitigation?
The Biden Administration and other stakeholders are working to establish clear standards for high-quality carbon credits. Organisations such as the integrity council for the Voluntary Carbon Market.
The Integrity Council’s Core Carbon Principles (CCPs) establish the first independent global benchmark for high-integrity carbon credits, ten fundamental principles that create real, verifiable climate impact, based on the latest science and best practice. CCP-labelled carbon credits are designed to build trust in the market and enable it to scale.
This will help ensure the integrity of the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) and give companies and organisations confidence when purchasing credits to offset their emissions.
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- Source: https://climatetrade.com/why-is-the-white-house-talking-about-the-voluntary-carbon-market/
