Readers Select top Voluntary Carbon Stories of 2010
As Ecosystem Marketplace wishes you and yours some New Years luck in this special edition, we offer a look back at 2010 – replaying your reader-ranked Top (20)10 Stories and sage predictions for the coming year from some of the market’s most influential players.
As Ecosystem Marketplace wishes you and yours some New Years luck in this special edition, we offer a look back at 2010 – replaying your reader-ranked Top (20)10 Stories and sage predictions for the coming year from some of the market’s most influential players.
NOTE: This article has been reprinted from Ecosystem Marketplace’s Voluntary Carbon Newsletter. You can receive this summary of global news and views from the world of voluntary carbon automatically in your inbox every two weeks by clicking here.
31 December 2010 | The voluntary carbon market experienced a series of meaningful wins peppered with some striking losses in 2010. Fortunately, veterans of the
As it became clear that the US Senate would not agree upon meaningful climate legislation, pre-compliance demand fell and the Chicago Climate Exchange – already painfully oversupplied –
Some market players turned to California, where the state’s AB32 cap-and-trade program
California also
In fact, domestic efforts reigned in 2010, which saw the emergence of the
Readers cited these and other stories as the most important developments in the 2010 voluntary carbon market. Check out the ranking below and read some insightful predictions from a few movers, shakers – and V-Carbon readers.
Reader Retrospective 2010
A reader-ranked summary of the year’s top stories impacting the voluntary carbon market
10. Country, County, City, Home: From China and Chile to Chiapas and California, domestic action on climate change took center stage in the absence of international clarity around carbon trading. In the case of the
9. Counting Carbon: Along with emerging markets came a multiplicity of new market mechanisms and programs – particularly in developing countries – like Africa’s
8. Climate Capitalism: Legislative battles in 2010 proved that corporate buy-in can make or tank climate efforts.
7. Crying Foul: The voluntary carbon market can hardly divorce itself from the regulated markets – so when controversies strike the compliance markets they also affect the voluntary market’s image. Throughout the
6. Creative Crediting: Governments and exchanges weren’t the only ones trying to streamline and spur new market activity and entrants in 2010. Third-party standards introduced a plethora of new offerings, like the
5. Cap-and-Trade is Dead: At best, the
4. Consolidation and Closure: The US Senate’s failure to secure passable climate legislation dramatically altered the voluntary carbon landscape. Some programs and companies backed out of the market entirely (
3. Carving our REDD credits: The voluntary carbon market is once again leading compliance markets in its pursuit of transparency and quality – this time around credits from forest carbon projects and specifically REDD. After years of anticipation, REDD methodologies fell out of the pipeline like dominoes, tackling issues from
2. California Role: Throughout the year, California’s Air Resources Board progressed in
1. Copenhagen to Cancun: Copenhagen came and went in late 2009, failing to achieve the (overly?) ambitious goals set out for negotiators. This year, the world came together to negotiate what many saw as a more realistic set of goals en route to Durban – and emerged with the
Carbon Crystal Ball 2011
What voluntary carbon market movers and shakers are saying about 2011
Mary Grady, Director Marketing, Communications and Operations
“ACR predicts the voluntary carbon market will continue a slow and steady regrowth in 2011, fueled not only by traditional CSR motives but also new drivers like mandatory GHG reporting and SEC-mandated climate risk disclosures. California will flesh out carbon market rules, including approving new protocols to increase offset supply, such as those focused on agriculture. In Washington, expect modest and incremental clean energy incentives rather than big plays from Congress, but don’t underestimate EPA’s ability to find room for offsets in the Clean Air Act.”
Emilie Mazzacurati, Head of Carbon Research North America
“In 2011, voluntary transactions will become clearly distinct from pre-compliance deals. Pure voluntary transactions will be driven by corporate compliance, and focused on project types not eligible in California/WCI, like renewable or coal-mine methane. No big growth expected there. We expect the pre-compliance market will really pick up ahead of the California market, with a lot of guessing game around which new project types will be allowed in the system, landfill gas and ag projects being the strongest contenders.”
Dr. Sascha Lafeld, Co-chair
“On the demand side, the voluntary market is likely to grow further in 2011. Besides growing demand from players in Western European countries, I expect to see new countries getting more familiar with voluntary action, e.g. China. On the supply side, we will see a decrease in pre-CDM VCUs since the the number of CDM projects especially from countries like India and China will shrink over the next years. Small scale “charismatic” projects will therefore gain more market share in 2011 as compared to earlier years. Looking e.g. at the Gold Standard’s project pipeline, I am confident that the high number of these charismatic projects will fill the supply gap from the decrease in pre-CDM VCUs.”
David Antonioli, CEO
“The first REDD credits verified to a major global standard will be issued in 2011 and this will have a profound impact on the voluntary carbon market. Folks have been eagerly awaiting this, partly because REDD credits embody environmental and social benefits that are very appealing to buyers and because REDD’s advance is in general a positive sign for future compliance markets. The bottom line is, REDD makes intuitive sense to potential buyers, whether corporate or government, so we expect significant demand for REDD credits in 2011 and beyond.”
Robert Falls, PhD, RPBio, CEO and Director
“The United Nations General Assembly declared 2011 as the International Year of Forests in order to raise awareness on sustainable management, conservation and sustainable development of forests. This not only mirrors the agenda of current forest carbon market participants, but also reflects the growing pro-forest sentiment we are seeing in the international carbon markets, both voluntary and compliant. The recent progress made under AB 32, where forestry is to play a significant role, is a tangible development that will catalyze regional programming not only for California, but for all WCI participants and voluntary market players. This indeed will be the Year of Forests, and just might be the year forest carbon offsets take their rightful place in the international effort to address climate change.”
Jonathan Shopley, Managing Director
“In 2011, the flight to quality leads to consolidation. Virtually all non-regulated carbon will be VCS or Gold Standard accredited. CCX signed its own death warrant due to its lack of independently established quality standards. The non-regulated carbon market will shrink to a smaller and more solid base after the collapse of the CCX, from which it will grow strongly as voluntary carbon buyers flock to quality and established carbon management providers.”
Gary Gero, President
“We expect that the market will be largely focused on pre-compliance for the California and WCI cap-and-trade program. But, as the economy picks up toward the end of 2011, we will begin to see renewed interest in pure voluntary transactions as part of corporate sustainability efforts. We would also expect to see growth in international projects as offset sources for both pre-compliance and voluntary market participants.
Katherine Graham, Manager of Registry Infrastructure
“2011 will be a year for the voluntary carbon standards to position their offsets in cap and trade programs. Furthermore, entities such as WCI in North America, California’s ARB and provinces in China will be looking to implement their programs and establishing the necessary infrastructure which will ensure market confidence and growth. Creating this infrastructure which links the voluntary carbon markets and compliance markets will be critical as regulators want to show the world how a cap and trade program could function at national levels some day.”
Caitlin Sparks, Associate Director North America Commercialization
“The voluntary market matured and strengthened in 2010 – buyers want bigger volumes, with clear co-benefits, and ease of transaction. As the economy further recovers in 2011, Camco expects to see increases in demand for all renewable project types and high-quality forestry projects. Gold Standard and Plan Vivo projects will remain in high demand, and more volume will be transacted through exchanges.”
Cecilia Michellis, Director
“Small-scale projects will continue to grow in popularity, with REDD+ and POAs emerging as popular instruments. Intervention, however will be needed to not follow the same course as CDM, which so far has primarily benefited large organizations.”
Michael Streck, Communications
“We expect to see a growing interest especially in forest carbon offsetting projects from European industries. The myriads of benefits to societies, economies and the environment that forest protection and restoration offer will continue to attract more and more buyers.”
Adrian Rimmer, CEO
“The fragmentation of the international compliance market will increase in pace, with regional initiatives seeking to fill the likely post-Kyoto vacuum.”
Renat Heuberger, CEO
“The voluntary carbon markets are ready for a thrilling year 2011: many projects to chose from, absolute transparency, and loads of exciting stories about positive impacts on the local communities. The carbon world is totally different compared to when we started ten years ago.”
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