Cover image for Voluntary carbon markets : an international business guide to what they are and how they work
Title:
Voluntary carbon markets : an international business guide to what they are and how they work
Edition:
2nd ed.
Publication Information:
London ; Sterling, VA : Earthscan, 2009
Physical Description:
xxiii, 160 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
ISBN:
9781844075614

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30000010236678 HC79 .P55 V65 2009 Open Access Book Book
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Summary

Summary

The global carbon markets are growing at a staggering rate. The growth prospects for business are enormous and the potential positive impacts for greenhouse gas emission reductions, climate policy options, renewable energy investment, development projects and efficiency gains are increasingly apparent.A unique part of the market in greenhouse gas emissions is the rapidly growing voluntary carbon market driven by companies, organizations and individuals committed to efficiency, profitability and rapid action on climate change.The second edition of this groundbreaking book draws together all the key information on international voluntary carbon markets with commentary from leading practitioners and business people. It covers all aspects of voluntary carbon markets around the world: what they are, how they work and, most critically, their business potential to help slow climate change.This new, fully revised second edition provides key updates on relevant trends, standards, suppliers, and growth in the marketplace, and is the indispensable guide for anyone seeking to understand voluntary carbon markets and capitalize on the opportunities they present for economic and environmental benefit.Second edition updates:* Contains updated data on credit prices, transaction volumes, major industry players, and other quantitative data through 2008, as well as revised analysis reflecting these shifts* Includes explanations of additional offset project type categories, providing prospective buyers and project developers with a more detailed understanding of the suite of offset projects available* Contains revised explanations and analyses by market experts of the key issues affecting the voluntary markets* Provides an updated 'glance into the future' of the voluntary carbon markets, reflecting market and policy trends that emerged through early 2008.


Author Notes

Ricardo Bayon is co-founder of EKO Asset Management Partners. Amanda Hawn is Manager of Advisory services at New Forests. Katherine Hamilton is the Managing Director of Ecosystem Marketplace.This book is a project of Ecosystem Marketplace, which is a project of the non-profit Forest Trends, and the leading source of information on environmental markets and payment schemes for ecosystem services. In particular, we are interested in market-based approaches to the conservation of water-related ecosystem services, carbon sequestration, and the myriad benefits of biodiversity. We believe that by providing solid and trustworthy information on prices, regulation, science, and other market- relevant issues, we can help markets for ecosystem services become a fundamental part of our economic and environmental systems, helping give value to environmental services that have, for too long, been taken for granted.


Reviews 1

Choice Review

This short, timely book, written by three principals at the Ecosystem Marketplace , does what it sets out to do: addresses why people should want to invest in carbon markets as a way to counter global climate change and provides guidance on how to do just that. Ecosystem Marketplace is dedicated to being an informational nexus in the global voluntary carbon market, and the book is in some ways a print version of that Web site. The authors begin with a discussion of the differences between a voluntary carbon market--purchasing offsets of current greenhouse gas emissions--and a regulated carbon market, such as the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. After describing how such markets operate, they then move aside and allow "experts," ranging from academics to consultants, to provide their own opinion regarding voluntary markets. This section is well done, as it highlights both the strengths and weaknesses of a voluntary market in carbon emissions as a way of fighting global climate change. Though the book breaks no new ground in the economic literature regarding carbon markets, it does provide a practitioner's view of such markets as they operate around the world. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers; practitioners. B. J. Peterson Central College


Table of Contents

Al GoreLori A. Bird and Walker L. WrightRob HarmonMark C. TrexlerJanet PeaceBen VitaleDavid Patrick Ross and Martha Isabel Ruiz CorzoBen HennekeBill Sneyd and Jonathan ShopleyMark C. TrexlerDavid Brand and Marisa MeizlishAlexander RauErin MeezanLorna Slade
List of Figures, Tables and Boxesp. vii
List of Authors and Contributorsp. ix
Acknowledgementsp. xv
Forewordp. xvii
List of Acronyms and Abbreviationsp. xix
Introductionp. xxi
1 The Big Picturep. 1
Market theoryp. 3
Carbon marketsp. 5
Voluntary carbon marketsp. 13
2 Understanding Supply and Demand in the Voluntary Carbon Marketsp. 19
A look at the supply chainp. 20
How does the market work?p. 35
3 RECs vs Offsets: The Debate Continuesp. 45
The US voluntary REC market and how it interacts with the carbon marketp. 46
The ABCs of renewable energy, RECs and greenhouse gas offsetsp. 54
RECs to carbon offsets: What's the right exchange rate?p. 60
4 The Voluntary Carbon Markets: What the Experts Thinkp. 67
An economist's perspective on the voluntary carbon markets: Useful but not sufficientp. 67
A conservationist's perspective on the voluntary carbon markets: Can they help us overcome inertia?p. 70
A project developer's perspective on the voluntary carbon markets: Carbon sequestration in the Sierra Gorda of Mexicop. 75
An NGO's perspective on the voluntary carbon markets: Key to solving the problemp. 78
A retailer's perspective on the voluntary carbon markets: A vital complement to regulationp. 82
A credit originator's perspective on the voluntary carbon markets: Encouraging quality in the marketsp. 87
An investor's perspective on the voluntary carbon markets: From marginal to mainstreamp. 90
An investor's perspective: The challenges ahead for scaling the voluntary carbon marketsp. 93
A buyer's perspective on the voluntary carbon markets: Lessons learned in the early days of carbon neutralityp. 96
A bank's perspective on the voluntary carbon markets: From risk to opportunityp. 101
5 A Glance into the Future of the Voluntary Carbon Marketsp. 105
A new outletp. 105
Gourmet carbonp. 106
The broad spectrump. 107
Unanswered questionsp. 108
Moving towards answersp. 109
Appendices
1 Offset Project Typesp. 113
2 Offset Standardsp. 121
3 Offset Registriesp. 129
4 Examples of Offset Suppliersp. 137
5 Glossaryp. 145
Indexp. 153