IETA NETWORK CONNECTION

In touch with global carbon markets

What's in an "A"?

Many of us spent years in school where “A” meant “excellent”. It’s still true for our children. But this year, the “A” will mean something special for IETA.

As IETA celebrates our 20th year anniversary, we decided that the “A” in IETA should stand for AMBITION. This shouldn’t distract from the other meanings of “A”, because we think it should stand for more than Ambition alone:

• Markets deliver ADVANTAGE to innovators
• Markets provide ASSURANCE of quality
• We are an ASSOCIATION, which allows us to accomplish more together than apart
• And let’s not forget the critical A: ARTICLE 6 of the Paris Agreement.

In early February, the IETA Council and staff met to plan the year’s activities and to reiterate our long-term priorities. Our primary focus is to begin breathing commercial life into Article 6. We want to draw in every aspect of cooperation and innovation, from technology to risk management to natural climate solutions. Think of these as ALL of the potential market solutions that we aim to mobilise, all aimed at driving and delivering Ambition.

We hope that you’ll join us in celebrating the power of the “A” in our association this year, in all of its meanings – and in particular Ambition, because it belongs at the forefront. Ambition should be seen as the hallmark of carbon markets, because they work best when delivering ambitious climate targets. We shouldn’t be afraid to say that, because it puts us squarely on the side of environmental and economic success.

In 2019, governments will turn attention to their next round of targets – including whether and how to strengthen them. We will urge decision-makers to consider how carbon markets fit into their plans. We will work with our business alliances across key jurisdictions to urge their governments to consider how Article 6 can enable their aims and ambitions. To be a part of this team, why not consider joining IETA now?

As this year progresses, we hope to celebrate IETA’s Achievements with our members across our series of 20th “Birthday Parties”, taking place around our main global events. The first one is coming up in a couple of weeks, in Accra as part ofAfrica Climate Week!

Then in April, we’ll gather for our first IETA European Climate Summit (ECS) in Lisbon – where we’ll review progress and charting of future ambitions for Europe as it begins consideration of its new proposal for getting to net zero emissions by 2050.

And in June, we’ll be at the Innovate4Climate (I4C) conference in Singapore to talk about finance, markets and ambition.

It’s never too late to support IETA’s work. 2019 is going to be a busy year, but we’ll be bringing our “A Game”, as always!

Dirk Forrister
President & CEO

Meet IETA

5-6 March: Julia Michalak and Stefano De Clara will be presenting at the Argus Emissions Markets in The Hague

12-13 March: Dirk Forrister is speaking at the Global Expert Meeting on Renewable Energy Markets in Amsterdam 

12 March: Hear Katie Sullivan at CERAWeek in Houston

18-22 March: Dirk Forrister and Stefano De Clara will attend the Africa Climate Week event

20-22 March: IETA is co-hosting the Climate Leadership Conference in Baltimore, Maryland

26-28 March: Meet Katie Sullivan at Americana in Montreal

16-17 April: IETA will host the first European Climate Summit in Lisbon, Portugal

24-26 April: Katie Sullivan and Dirk Forrister will be speaking at the North American Carbon World 2019 in Los Angeles

25-26 April: Catch up with Katie Sullivan and Ellen Lourie at Carbon Pricing for Canadian Industry in Toronto

8-9 May: Katie Kouchakji will be attending the 6th Australasian Emissions Reduction Summit in Melbourne

4-7 June: Meet IETA at the Innovate4Climate event in Singapore

IETA Member's Corner

How is Natural Capital Partners involved in the carbon market?

We provide high-quality environmental solutions to more than 300 clients in 34 countries and are an active participant in the voluntary carbon and energy attribute certificate markets. Since we were founded in 1997, we have contracted 35 million tonnes of carbon credits from more than 390 projects in 56 countries. For a record eighth consecutive year, we have been recognised as Best Offset Retailer in the Environmental Finance Awards. We are also a retailer in the compliance market through CERs and national markets. In the renewable energy markets, we are the leading global contractor of the International REC Standard, selling more than 4 million MWh to our clients up to the end of 2018 and driving the extension of the Standard in 16 countries, including China, Israel, the Philippines and Uganda.

In addition to our role as a service provider to multinational corporations in the private sector, we are an environmental instrument asset developer. For instance, we have just registered M-KOPA, an innovative solar power, mobile technology and micro finance project, with the Gold Standard. We also develop and extend projects to create customised solutions that meet specific business needs of our clients, such as working with a tea and coffee company to improve the resilience of small holder tea farmers through a community reforestation solution in Kenya.

Why did you join IETA?

We joined IETA over ten years ago to benefit from its convening power as therecognised industry association informing the evolution of markets for climate solutions. We have always been an advocate of the power of market mechanisms to deliver climate action and co-founded the International Carbon Reduction and Offset Alliance (ICROA) with seven other voluntary offset service providers in 2007. We were instrumental in bringing ICROA into IETA in 2011, helping create a more powerful case for the use of markets to serve both compliance and voluntary action on climate. Most recently, we benefited from IETA’s convening power at COP24 where we participated in IETA’s event with EDF and the UK government calling for highest standards on accounting to support the growth of markets.

Another key benefit of membership is the access it provides to detailed market insight across the different types of carbon markets. One example of this is the recent analysis undertaken with the University of Maryland that looked at the cost savings that could benefit Nationally Determined Contributions with an operational Article 6.

Jonathan Shopley 
Managing Director, External Affairs, Natural Capital Partners

IETA Publications

IETA Position Paper on REDD+ finance - In English - In Spanish

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