Carbon Tanzania

• 1: Home
• 2: Tanzania
  • 2.1: Tanzanian Perspective
  • 2.2: Climate Change in Tanzania
• 3: The Carbon Market
  • 3.1: Global Carbon Market
  • 3.5: The Compliance Market
  • 3.6: The Voluntary Carbon Market
• 4: Projects
  • 4.1: Habitat Rehabilitation
  • 4.2: Monduli Forest
  • 4.3: Community-based
  • 4.4: Energy alternatives
• 5: Setting standards
• 6: Offset your carbon
  • 6.1: Tanzanian tour operators
  • 6.2: Agents based in the UK and USA
  • 6.3: Organisations
• 7: Contact us

The Voluntary Carbon Market

The Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) allows companies and individuals to buy offsets and thus mitigate their contribution to GHG emissions. Whilst the VCM has a smaller market share than the compliance schemes (Kyoto, CDM, EU Emissions) ($62.6 million was traded in 2006, Hamilton, 2007) (link to the compliance schemes) it’s market share is growing. Unlike the clean development mechanism (CDM) there are no established rules of engagement which has led to a great variety of methodologies to mitigating climate change.

Currently the VCM is fed by two distinct market types, those that originate from the compliance market (CER’s from CDM) and those created in the voluntary market, those created in the voluntary market can be funnelled to offset schemes and projects such as Carbon Tanzania directly or through organisations and implemented under a system of standards.

Within the VCM there are eight market standards currently under use or consideration.

Of these the Plan Vivo scheme and the Climate, Community and Biodiversity standards are the most relevant as they are designed to ensure that projects such as Carbon Tanzania do what they claim and promise, especially in terms of the added values.

These values include the planting of indigenous trees, watershed and land use planning for effective protection, working with communities on the ground such as the pastoralist Maasai and ensuring that climate mitigation is effective at a grass roots level.