White Paper: Unlocking Carbon Dioxide Removal with Voluntary Carbon Markets
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 20, 2022
Carbon Business Council Publishes White Paper: “Unlocking Carbon Dioxide Removal with Voluntary Carbon Markets”
-Developed by a Working Group of Carbon Removal Companies, White Paper Features Policy & Market Recommendations to Strengthen Markets-
The Carbon Business Council, a trade association of more than 65 carbon management companies, has published a white paper on the intersection of voluntary carbon markets (VCMs) and carbon dioxide removal (CDR). The release comes as Climate Week kicks, off where the Carbon Business Council is hosting an in-person panel discussion with authors from the white paper today. The white paper paper features recommendations for market regulators and existing market providers about how to grow VCMs, scale carbon removal, and provide a more diverse portfolio of climate solutions for purchasers. VCMs are projected to grow to a $50 billion market by 2030.
“Voluntary carbon markets are a powerful tool to meet climate targets and scale carbon removal. The Carbon Business Council’s white paper dives into how to strengthen markets so that they can have the greatest climate impact. This includes ensuring that there is a complete menu of carbon removal options available in the markets,” said Ben Rubin, Executive Director of the Carbon Business Council.
How can VCMs be shaped to help scale CDR while ensuring rigor, accuracy, and accountability all occur? The white paper includes a series of policy and market recommendations to answer questions like this. Recommendations include: distinguishing between offset and carbon removal credits, reaching alignment on definitions with broad-based stakeholder engagement, streamlining verification for CDR solutions to enter VCMs, and having the price of carbon removal reflect the permanence of the solution. Carbon removal methods each provide a unique series of benefits and vary in their storage duration, sequestering carbon dioxide from hundreds of years to hundreds of thousands of years.
The white paper was developed by a working group convened by the Carbon Business Council. Working group members include: Radhika Moolgavkar of Nori, Kelly Erhart of Vesta, Ryan Anderson of Parallel Carbon, Tony Qu of Sequestr, Nico Julian of Phykos, and Ben Rubin and Isabella Corpora of the Carbon Business Council. Morgan, Lewis, and Bockius provided pro bono legal review.
Scientists around the world have reached consensus that the world needs to remove gigatons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in order to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. When corporations and governments are fulfilling a net-zero or net-negative pledge, a large focus is rightfully placed on reducing emissions. In tandem with mitigation efforts, CDR can be purchased in VCMs to address hard-to-abate emissions and legacy climate pollution. Streamlining how CDR is purchased can help to scale up climate restoration efforts.
Building on the release of the white paper, the Carbon Business Council will submit responses to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission open request for information about ways that the federal government can provide oversight of VCMs and the Integrity Council for Voluntary Carbon Markets open consultation.
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Carbon Business Council (CO2BC), a member-driven tech-neutral trade association of more than 65 companies unified to restore the climate, is the preeminent advocacy arm for carbon management innovators.