Who Regulates Carbon Offsets?

Overview

In order for the carbon offset market to function and fulfill its purpose, the offsets created need to be legitimate. To make sure of that, environmental accountants and independent third parties inspect offset projects to verify their impact. This process involves collaboration across the entire supply chain.

Registries and Verification

Registries act as environmental accountants. Its main priority is to make sure that one carbon offset is issued for every tonne of CO2 reduced or removed from the atmosphere. This process builds authenticity in the market and limits double-counting. Registries also ensure that each offset produced meets the constantly-updating quality standards.

When an offset project applies to a registry, it’s met by a validation/verification body (VVB) to validate and estimate the volume and quality of emissions reduced. VVBs are essentially environmental engineering firms that are tasked with evaluating the standards and methodologies used by offset projects. VVBs work hand-in-hand with registries to audit projects and keep them in line with industry-approved standards.

Each year they revisit the project to monitor and verify that the reductions/removals are still taking place as expected. This continued verification process is important because it provides assurance that the offsets are real, permanent, and additional. Registries also play an important role in maintaining the quality of the carbon offset market by ensuring that only good projects become verified and receive funding. In order to do this, they must have strong eligibility criteria and screening processes in place.

Conclusion

The voluntary carbon markets rely on registries to certify that projects meet quality standards and issue the correct number of offsets. These organizations play a crucial role in maintaining the credibility of the carbon market. Even though verification is a tedious and time-consuming process, the end goal is a more transparent and trustworthy market. With registries maintaining the issuance of offsets, the double-counting criticisms will gradually fade as the market continues to improve in its transparency & accountability.