Wednesday 20 February 2008
The Government has urged the carbon offsetting industry to aim for higher standards, as it launched the new Code of Best Practice on the subject this week. The code, which is to be backed by a quality mark, will be initially based on schemes using Kyoto-compliant credits. The aim of the programme is to create a transparency for consumers in order to introduce confidence in the market.“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 customer buys a tonne of carbon with the Government’s quality mark, they’ll know they’re buying a full tonne of carbon,” said Environment Secretary Hilary Benn. “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.”Green group Friends of the Earth sounded a warning over the Government’s offsetting accreditation, on the basis that it could provide encouragement for people to continue emission-heavy practices with a clear conscience, doing nothing to promote genuinely greener living.“Carbon offsetting cannot substitute cutting emissions here and now,” said FoE’s Energy Campaigner Mary Taylor. “This code will still allow offsets to be sold for our increasingly polluting lifestyles – such as sports utility vehicles and flying on extra weekend holidays.”
Friday, 22 February 2008
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