IETA NETWORK CONNECTION

In touch with global carbon markets

Businesses rise to the climate challenge

Voluntary action on climate is growing strongly across the private sector. In the last few months, we have seen a surge in new pledges to carbon neutrality and net-zero emissions from businesses around the globe. Many of these businesses are planning to complement their decarbonisation strategies with carbon credits and the voluntary carbon market is reaching new heights. Demand for natural climate solutions in particular is a significant driver and IETA’s new initiative, Markets for Natural Climate Solutions, is here to accelerate investments in this space.

It is encouraging to see this clear appetite to contribute to the goals of the Paris Agreement. Globally, carbon reduction projects financed by businesses on a voluntary basis have already reduced over 500 million tonnes of CO2e, according to Ecosystem Marketplace. The voluntary carbon market has the potential to grow significantly in the decade ahead and become even more impactful.

Within IETA, the ICROA community works continuously to promote best practice in this market and engages NGOs and governments to finds ways to scale action. ICROA is dedicated to ensuring the transparency of voluntary action which ought to follow rigorous protocols and continue to be tracked in independent registries. We are also increasingly focusing on framing a transition of the market towards greater impact on the ground, where governments can accommodate voluntary action in their improved NDCs. Finally, our work is also about ensuring that the claims available add value to businesses so we can grow the global volume of private sector finance to mitigation.

When it comes to pledges, airlines have been especially busy planning and announcing their net-zero strategies in preparation for CORSIA. IETA welcomed  ICAO’s approval of the first six programmes that will provide the Eligible Emissions Units for compliance use in CORSIA for the 2021-23 pilot phase. The voluntary carbon market is poised to respond to CORSIA, and it is encouraging that this list of approved programmes is very similar to ICROA’s list of endorsed standards in its own Code of Best Practice.

Covid-19 and the rise of the videoconference era

Obviously the Covd-19 situation is creating a lot of recalibration in all markets. Aviation and many other industries are on the front line. In a matter of days, it seems we have entered uncharted territory and, in the midst of it now, it is challenging to predict how long and far-reaching the consequences will be for climate action.

Countless events in the weeks ahead have either been postponed or cancelled. IETA has already adapted to this new (and temporary) situation and will be creative to stay close to its community during this lockdown time. Stay tuned for more information!

In the meantime, we hope that you will safe, healthy and in high spirits.

Antoine Diemert

ICROA Programme Director

For more information about IETA and our work, check out www.ieta.org

Meet IETA

Our schedule of events is on pause during the Covid-19 pandemic. IETA has arranged a series of webinars for our members in the meanwhile; please contact us for more information about joining. 

IETA Publications

The Economic Potential of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement and Implementation Challenge report, prepared by IETA and co-sponsored by Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition, with the help of researchers and modellers from the University of Maryland