The Voluntary Market Standards
Within the VCM there are at least 17 standards currently under use or consideration (Hamilton et. al, 2009). These third-party standards help to ensure that carbon offset projects are real, additional (meaning projects go above-and-beyond “business as usual) and permanent.
Typically, standards ensure that the following offset criteria are met:
Additionally – In order for an offset to be additional, it must be generated by a project or action that would not have happened without the incentives provided by the offset market.
Methodology – In order for an offset to be a true offset, it must be quantified using an approved measurement methodology.
Third-party audited – Third party audits helps to ensure that offset measurements are real, accurate and represent the offset developer’s intentions.
Permanence – Permanence ensures that generated offsets will have long-lasting, or permanent, impacts.
Leakage – Leakage means that a carbon offset generated in one location will actually increase GHG emissions in another. Therefore, offset projects must take leakage into account.
Of the many standards, Carbon Tanzania aims to have our offsets validated and verified through the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS), which is the most widely used standard on the VCM.
To learn more about Standards, check out these publications:
The State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets 2009, EcoSystems Marketplace
Making Sense of the Voluntary Carbon Market: A Comparison of Carbon Offset Standards, WWF
To learn more about Forestry Carbon Standards download this report.
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