About a third of existing carbon credits failed to meet the criteria for a new standard that aims to serve as a global benchmark for the voluntary carbon market. This was announced by the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM), reports Reuters.
In the voluntary market, companies can buy credits from projects around the world, such as wind farms or various reforestation schemes, and use them to meet their internal carbon footprint targets. All credits that do not meet the new standard are related to renewable energy.
Demand for offsets stalled last year after widespread doubts that the credits served to reduce emissions. The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM), an independent, multi-stakeholder-led body, has attempted to address integrity concerns by launching Carbon Core Principle (CCP) standards and assessing the validity of projects.
Eight methodologies failed to meet the requirements of the standard
The council also announced that eight renewable energy methodologies, covering around 236 million unremoved or unused carbon credits, making up 32 percent of the market, failed to meet the requirements of the standard based on so-called additionality - a scheme proving , that the emissions reductions achieved would not have occurred without the financial incentives provided through the carbon credit.
Amy Merrill, chief executive of the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market, believes that renewable energy projects can still be part of the voluntary carbon market and that new methodologies can be brought forward for consideration.
"There are still places in the world where barriers to deployment (of the voluntary carbon market - note) mean that projects can be additional," she commented in an interview with Reuters.
The cost of offsets (a metric ton of emissions avoided or reduced - note) for renewable energy fell 69 percent last year to an average of $3,88 per metric ton, according to a report released in May by the nonprofit Ecosystems Marketplace.