In a recent survey conducted by EcoSecurities, Conservation International, CCBA and ClimateBiz, the 120 companies surveyed assessed more than 77% of the benefits of the community and the environment as the main motivators for the purchase of CO2 offsets. [53] There are currently plans to avoid double counting by ”robust” accounting methods (the language used in Article 6). In particular, when a country transfers a reduction in emissions, it will adjust its greenhouse gas balance sheets so that the reduction is not attributed to its national commitment, while a country receiving the transfer can apply the reduction to its own balance sheet. A similar balance sheet is likely to be used to reduce emissions, funded by the international aviation industry, which has pledged to offset any increase in its greenhouse gas emissions after 2020. And in principle, the same methods could be applied to backstop rights for CO2 offset credits purchased by private voluntary buyers. The CO2 pension involves the abandonment of allowances from emissions trading schemes as a method of offsetting CO2 emissions. Voluntary buyers can offset their CO2 emissions by purchasing CO2 allowances from mandatory cap-and-trade programmes, such as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative or the European Emissions Trading Scheme. By purchasing the allowances that power plants, oil refineries and industrial facilities must hold to meet a cap, voluntary purchases tighten the ceiling and impose additional emission reductions. To calculate your CO2e travel emissions with the online carbon calculator on the website or by choosing the Drive Carbon Neutral option in the BPme app; and enter your credit/debit card data into the secure payment system on site (operated by World Pay Limited). In December, international climate negotiators will meet in Madrid for the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP25) to develop rules for international cooperation in accordance with Article 6 of the 2015 Paris Agreement. In the language of Article 6, ”international cooperation” refers to the possibility for countries to cooperate on international carbon markets. This means that countries can offset their national greenhouse gas emissions by acquiring emission reductions (also known as ”reductions”) in other countries.
Overall, the U.S. market remains primarily a voluntary market, but several cap-and-trade regimes are either fully implemented or are imminent at the regional level. The first mandatory market-based CO2 reduction program, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (GGI), was launched in 2009 in the northeastern states and has increased almost tenfold to $2.5 billion, according to Le Carbon. The Western Climate Initiative (WCI) – a regional cap-and-trade program that includes seven Western states (including California) and four Canadian provinces – has set a regional target to reduce heat capture emissions by 15% below 2005 levels by 2020.
