DEPARTMENT FOR
ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS News Release (47/08) issued by
The Government News Network on 19 February 2008
Environment
Secretary Hilary Benn today challenged the voluntary offsetting
industry to provide strong standards for offsetting products so
that they can be part of a landmark Government Code of Best
Practice for consumer offsetting products.
Mr Benn today announced the final structure of the Code, which
will be backed by a quality mark. Emissions offset through
accredited products will be calculated consistently and correctly,
and consumers will be provided with clear information and
transparent prices.
"If people are trying to reduce their impact on the climate,
the first thing they should do is find ways to reduce their carbon
footprint. But realistically, there are emissions that can't
or won't be avoided, and that's where offsetting can
play an important role.
"That's why the Government is developing a Code of
Practice and a quality mark for high-quality offsetting products
to help businesses and individuals Act on CO2."
Mr Benn said that as a starting point, the Code would only cover
offsetting products using Kyoto-compliant credits initially.
"I think it's right that we set a high standard.
It's important that consumers who want to buy carbon offsets
with confidence can do just that. When a consumer buys a tonne of
carbon with the Government's quality mark, they'll know
they're buying a full tonne of carbon," he said.
"However, we recognise that credits from the unregulated
market may be innovative and of a very high standard. So
we're leaving the Offsetting Code open to high-quality
voluntary offsetting products, provided the industry can provide a
similar level of assurance about the standard of the credits.
"The challenge to the offsetting industry is clear: to
establish a clear, rigorous standard for voluntary projects that
deals with the concerns that have been raised. We will support
them in developing that standard - and when we have the necessary
guarantees, we'll include high-quality voluntary offsets in
the Code."
The Government's decision recognises the efforts of the
industry so far to develop different standards for Voluntary
Emission Reductions (VERs), and encourages the industry to come
together and build on the existing groundwork.
The principles that will need to be addressed by an industry
standard are:
* additionality, meaning that the carbon savings must be in
addition to reductions that would be made anyway;
* avoiding carbon leakage, or emissions avoided on one site
simply being moved somewhere else;
* permanence, ensuring that emissions reductions were not simply
put off until later;
* verification systems for emissions reductions;
* transparency on the methodologies and procedures used; and
* avoiding double counting, ensuring that emissions counted in
an offset product are not counted elsewhere, for example as
savings through an emissions trading scheme.
Once an industry consensus has been reached on a standard for
voluntary credits and it has been fully operational for six
months, the Government has asked that an independent audit is
carried out.
The Government has appointed AEA to become the accreditation body
for the Code, and they will today issue the final draft of the
Code for industry comment on accreditation procedures. The quality
mark associated with the work is currently being developed, and
will be ready to be used when the first products are accredited
later this year.
Compliance credits, also known as Kyoto credits, offer consumers
a transparent system which allow consumers to trace their offset
credits back to the projects that have generated them, and to
scrutinise the full audit trail for each project and each tonne of emissions.
The Government Carbon Offsetting Fund, through which ministerial
and official air travel is offset, uses compliance credits from
renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.
Notes to Editors
1. Defra launched a consultation on its proposed Code of Best
Practice on 16 January 2007, and published its response on 13 July 2007.
2. More information on the Code of Best Practice is available at
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climatechange/uk/carbonoffset/codeofpractice.htm
3. Offsetting is a way of compensating for emissions produced
with an equivalent carbon saving, lessening the impact of a
consumer's actions. Consumers can offset a particular
activity, such as a flight; their emissions over a period of time,
such as their annual car mileage; or across their entire lifestyle
or business, including all of the gas and electricity they consume
and their emissions from transport.
4. Carbon offsetting involves calculating emissions and then
purchasing equivalent credits from emission reduction projects
that have prevented or removed the emission of an equivalent
amount of carbon dioxide somewhere else.
5. Certified credits are those emission reduction credits that
come from the existing compliance market, that is Certified
Emission Reductions (CERs), EU Allowances (EUAs) and Emission
Reduction Units (ERUs). The Kyoto compliant sector refers to
emission reduction projects and measures provided for under the
Kyoto Protocol. These are collectively known as 'flexible
mechanisms' and consist of the Clean Development Mechanism
(CDM), Joint Implementation (JI) and international emission
trading schemes. Countries with Kyoto targets to reduce their
emissions can use the flexible mechanisms to help them achieve
those targets. More information is available at http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climatechange/internat/kyotomech/index.htm.
Public enquiries 08459 335577;
Press notices are available on
our website
http://www.defra.gov.uk
Defra's aim is sustainable development
To subscribe or unsubscribe to Defra's mailing list go to:
http://www.gnn.gov.uk/
Once on the GNN website see Sign up
Nobel House
17 Smith Square
London SW1P 3JR
Website http://www.defra.gov.uk