February 26, 2008 —
At the Carbon Forum America conference starting Tuesday in San Francisco, the San Francisco-based organization plans to launch Green-e Climate, a consumer-protection program for retail carbon-emission offset products.
"We believe the market needs independent oversight in order to grow," said Green-e Climate manager Lars Kvale in a written statement. "The level of transparency Green-e Climate certification requires means that consumers will know where their offsets come from and have confidence that they are getting what they pay for."
It’s not the first effort to tackle the issue. Several carbon-offset companies, such as 3Degrees and Zerofootprint, have recently launched with claims that their offsets really work (see Carbon Offset Market Heats Up By 3Degrees and TechCrunch post).
And you can expect to see more startups pop up as the carbon markets grow.
The New York Mercantile Exchange said Monday it plans to launch its first group of greenhouse-gas contracts March 17, according to Reuters. The Green Exchange initiative, formed by a partnership between the NYMEX and energy brokerage Evolution Markets, will initially offer futures and options on carbon credits traded under the Kyoto Protocol, as well as futures on certified emissions reductions, and later plans to offer voluntary greenhouse-gas credits.
There’s more evidence the sector is maturing, too. GreenAir, which sells carbon credits, is planning an initial public offering in the next year, according to the Australian Financial Review (via Asia Cleantech). But Nick Campbell, an environmental manager at chemical group Arkema, said he expects carbon prices will be "extremely volatile" in the next couple of years as international climate negotiations continue (see Platts bulletin).
It’s all the more reason for even voluntary-offset companies to differentiate themselves by proving their offsets work.
And that’s where Green-e Climate hopes to help.
