COzero has adopted a Standard of Practice for the Procurement, Management, and Marketing of Carbon Credits.
The Standard of Practice is known as the 'Voluntary Carbon Standard'. Since late 2005, The Climate Group (TCG), the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) and the World Economic Forum Global Greenhouse Register (WEF) have been working together to develop the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS). The VCS is designed to be a global benchmark standard for project-based voluntary emission reductions that provides a degree of standardization to the Voluntary Carbon Market.
The Voluntary Carbon Standard seeks to ensure that emissions reductions
are:
All emission reductions the project activities that generate them must be proven to have genuinely
taken place. For this reason, the VCS only allows certification of emission reductions that have already
taken place.
All emission reductions must be quantifiable using recognized measurement tools and
techniques within standard margins of measurement error.
Permanent: In order to be used to offset emissions produced elsewhere, it is essential that any credits used represent permanent emission
reductions and are not likely to be reversed. Where credits are generated by projects that carry a risk of reversibility, adequate safeguards
must be put in place before verification and certification to ensure that the risk of subsequent reversals of a GHG emission
reduction is minimized and that, should any reversal occur, a mechanism is in place that guarantees that the emission reduction will
immediately be replaced or compensated.
Additional: A key factor in the “genuineness” of a project-based emission reduction -especially when used to offset GHG emissions produced
elsewhere – is that any emissions reductions from a project activity should be additional. Additional credits are those that would not have been certified without
the additional technical assistance and investment provided through the application of funds received through
monetization of the commercial value of the credits.
Independently verified: In order to provide sufficient guarantees to buyers and other end users that the principles above have been met,
all emission reductions are verified by an approved independent third party verifier with the
expertise necessary in both the countr y and sector in which the project is taking place to provide an adequate level of assurance. Please see the project focus section for further detail on verified projects.
In addition to these key principles, it is essential that no more than one credit is associated with a single
emission reduction. Therefore, the VCS contains checks to ensure that double counting of emissions reductions – in mandatory or other
voluntary markets – does not take place.
The VCS is available here .
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