This Week In V-Carbon: State Of The Voluntary Carbon Report Nears Launch

This month, DuPont Refrigerants and EOS Climate entered a new partnership that leverages carbon finance to incentivize distributors across DuPont’s network to destroy ozone-depleting substances (ODS). Expanding upon DuPont’s existing reclaim program, the DuPont CFC Buyback program under EOS Climate’s Refrigerant Revolution will be available through DuPont’s national network of distributors and reclaim centers. Just last year, Honeywell – which in recent years entered a joint venture with DuPont – began destroying CFC refrigerants and selling the resulting carbon credits for use in California’s cap-and-trade program.

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Developed by Finite Carbon, the Moro Big Pine CE Improved Forest Management Early Action Offset project in Arkansas recently became the United States’ first improved forest management project completed for a publicly-traded real estate investment trust (REIT). Finite Carbon and Potlatch Corporation registered the 15,809-acre project under the Climate Action Reserve’s forest offset protocol for use in California’s cap-and-trade program. The project has initially issued 220,208 in compliance-eligible carbon offset, showcasing the integration of forest, wildlife and ecosystem value management.

   – Read press release

Canadian project developer Cap-Op Energy has just opened British Columbia’s first Program of Activities (PoA) for pneumatic instrument conversions, allowing oil and gas producers with facilities in BC to aggregate their emission reduction efforts and earn carbon offsets under the BC Emission Offset Regulation. To be eligible, producers must have converted or retrofitted pneumatic controllers or pumps to low- or no-bleed devices after November 29, 2007. Cap-Op Energy’s next verification cycle for the program starts this September and closes next January.

   – Read press release

The first group scheme validation by the UK’s Woodland Carbon Code has set a precedent for reduced validation costs for forest carbon project developers working in the UK. After recognizing the potentially prohibitive costs of individual validation for some applicants, particularly those implementing small-scale projects, the Woodland Carbon Code piloted the group scheme in an effort to “stimulate more woodland planting across the UK.” The voluntary standard’s group scheme pilot successfully validated 11 woodland projects owned by Buccleuch Estates in Dumfries & Galloway, the Scottish Borders and Northamptonshire. Four additional groups of projects are slated for validation this month.  

   – Read press release

California-based Project Surya is using a mobile app called SootSwap to monitor emission reductions from clean cookstoves adoption as it distributes clean cookstoves in India. SootSwap’s temperature-sensing feature and thermal sensor log the frequency and duration of stove usage, making it easier to verify emission reduction claims. Piloted across 100 households in Uttar Pradesh (UP), India’s most populous state, Project Surya’s Climate Credit Pilot Project will now be rolled out to cover 2,000 Indian households to target the combined impact of carbon and short-lived climate pollutants, with project revenues distributed directly to participating women through local rural banks. Surya partners include the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, the American Carbon Registry, and SCS Global.

   – Read more
   – Read about the project

Hilton Worldwide has expanded its carbon offset program in Southeast Asia to cover an additional two of its hotels in Indonesia, making for a total of 13 properties covered under the regional program in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. Since Hilton launched the program in late 2012, it has offset over 4,500 tCO2e in emissions from events and meetings in these hotels, with 70% of the events and meetings booked by corporate customers. Proceeds going toward the Borneo IFM Rainforest Rehabilitation Project developed by Face the Future and the Cambodia Cookstove Project developed by Cambodia-based NGO GERES. Both projects are VCS validated and sourced through Climate Friendly.

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Ricoh Australia, a branch of the Japan-based printing giant, is offering to buy carbon offsets on behalf of customers who rent or finance a printer if they also commit to automated meter reading and participate in Ricoh’s consumables recycling program. Ricoh builds the cost of offsets into the contract price. One such customer includes RMIT University. On the side, Ricoh Australia recently achieved carbon neutral certification under the carboNZero program following an independent audit of the company’s GHG footprint, emission reductions activities and the purchase of quality carbon credits.

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In support of UNEP World Environment Day on June 5, the UN Association of Australia is awarding innovative environmental initiatives across Australia through its World Environment Day Awards. Among those placed as finalists for the Biodiversity Award category this year is Cassinia Environmental, whose ecological offset product combines carbon credits with permanent protection for Australian wildlife on the 12,000 acres of land it owns and manages in Victoria and New South Wales. Cassinia’s reach extends beyond Australia, with the major role it played in Africa’s first large-scale CDM forestry project developed by World Vision Australia in Ethiopia.

   – Read more about the project

Morning Star Packing Co et al v. CARB is the umpteenth lawsuit attempting to hold California’s cap-and-trade program  –  whose recent permit auction saw record-high prices  –  at bay. The petitioners argue, like the California Chamber of Commerce in an earlier lawsuit, that auctioning allowances under California’s program constitutes an illegal tax since the underlying AB 32 legislation was not approved by two-thirds of both houses of the state legislature. The Morning Star lawsuit adds concrete examples of how the “tax” burdens petitioners. An assessment by Marten Law says the court will likely consider at least three factors: 1) whether the amount of money raised by the fee is limited to the reasonable costs of the regulatory program; 2) whether the money generated is used for purposes unrelated to the purpose of the regulation; and 3) whether the compliance burden is reasonably allocated between regulated entities.

   – Read more about lawsuit
   – Read more about latest auction

New data shows that the surplus of EU allowances doubled last year from 950 million to nearly 2 billion allowances  by 2012 year end. The European Commission’s backloading proposal, intended to curb oversupply,  will go before the European Parliament a second time  in July while the European Commission continues to work on longer-term structural changes. In the background, German Chancellor Angela Merkel  has been in talks with other EU member states  about the need for harder emissions reduction targets. Since the ban of industrial gas CERs by the EU, Australia and New Zealand,  the only remaining outlet of demand  for these so-called “grey CERs” is developed country governments looking to match their 2008-2012 discharge commitments under the Kyoto Protocol.

A new white paper published by Bloomberg New Energy Finance earlier this month provides a breakdown of South Korea’s upcoming emissions trading scheme slated for launch in 2015, and an assessment of how various design options might affect the price of carbon and the efficiency of the domestic market. Bloomberg anticipates the domestic price of carbon will be high compared with other schemes, given that the level of low-cost abatement by industrial emitters will unlikely be enough to meet South Korea’s goal of slashing GHG emissions by 30% by 2020, even when accounting for offsets up to a proposed limit of 10% of emitters’ compliance obligations.

   – Read more
   – Read white paper

A new consumer label for companies using wind energy called WindMade has opened up its draft standard to receive public comments through June 2. The technical advisory committee behind the standard includes experts from the World Wildlife Fund, the American Wind Energy Association, the Gold Standard, Climate Friendly, Vestas, and… LEGO. To become WindMade certified, participating organizations would have to derive at least 75% of their electricity consumption from wind energy and other renewable energy sources. The renewable power can be sourced through a variety of methods, including through Gold Power, a product developed by Climate Friendly that taps into electricity from Gold Standard renewable energy projects.

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The G8 Countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the UK, and the US) met recently at the World Bank to kickstart an initiative to provide open access to government-funded research that impacts agriculture. The US has so far made 350 data sets available at data.gov.The sets include data that IDs genes with important quality traits or that convey resistence to drought or pests, as well as agriculture-relevant information on vegetative cover, water and topographical characteristics. Supporters of initiative envision that the open data approach will help inform the development of new applications that can be used to build climate-resistant agricultural systems around the world.

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Based in Washington, D.C., the  Carbon Program Research Assistant  will provide support in preparation of the State of the Forest Carbon Markets report including corresponding with survey contacts, data collection and reviewing results. Candidates should have a Bachelor’s Degree (Graduate Degree a plus) and an interest in conservation finance/payments for ecosystem services. Also based in Washington, D.C., the  Research and Communications Assistant  will support Valorando Naturaleza, Ecosystem Marketplace’s Spanish language sister site, in managing content to be posted via a content management system. Candidates should be native Spanish speakers and have an interest in conservation finance/payments for ecosystem services.

Based in New York, the  Analyst  will source carbon offset investment opportunities from private land-owners, timber investment organizations, and non-profit organizations and conduct market analysis to inform carbon investment and business strategy. Candidates should have knowledge of carbon markets and 2-3 years of work experience in either a finance or carbon-related field. Also based in New York, the  Vice President or Senior Associate  will serve as an investment analyst, assist with business development, and work with the EKO Green Carbon Fund, a fund focused on investing in carbon offsets for the California compliance carbon market. Candidates should have a Graduate Degree or credential related to finance and 7+ years of work experience.

Based in Washington, D.C, the Program Officer will provide guidance and support to project developers, methodology developers, validation/verification bodies, registries and other stakeholders using VCS. Candidates should have a university education in a relevant field and an understanding of GHG concepts.

   – Read more about the position here

Based in London, the Fund Accountant will manage the delivery of carbon credits from carbon emission projects and liaise with trading counterparties and customers concerning post trading issues. Candidates should be qualified accountants and have an advanced ability with Excel.

   – Read more about the position here

Based in San Francisco, the Senior Manager will oversee Impact Carbon’s portfolio of carbon credits and develop and implement marketing and branding strategies for Impact Carbon’s premium credits. Candidates should have a Bachelor’s Degree (Advanced Degree preferred) and 5-7 years of carbon sales experience.

   – Read more about the position here

Based in Denver, the Student Intern will determine potential for carbon sequestration on state trust lands through four low-generation sources, research measures used to quantify potential carbon assets, and conduct water market demand investigation for wetland and stream mitigation credits. Candidates should be current students.

   – Read more about the position here

Based in Oregon, the Executive Director will provide visionary and strategic leadership and translate that vision into plans and concrete actions to advance the organization’s mission, revenue development, impact, and growth. Candidates should have at least a college degree and 10+ years of experience as a senior executive in an environmental or energy-related organization.

   – Read more about the position here