Mitigate your greenhouse gas emissions
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| Tararua Wind Farm |
Reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is the fundamental principle guiding the carboNZero programme. However, it is not possible for an organisation to reduce all of their GHG emissions. To achieve carboNZero certification, participants are required to offset their remaining unavoidable emissions with carbon credits. Carbon credits may be created by projects that:
- Avoid GHG emissions through renewable energy generation
- Reduce GHG emissions through energy efficiency initiatives
- Sequester GHGs e.g. through regeneration of native forest or methane capture
About the carbon credits used by the carboNZero programme
Participants seeking carboNZero certification can purchase credits either directly through the Programme (pre-approved), or purchase appropriate credits from alternative market sources. Regardless of the source, these must be assessed and approved by the Programme. The Programme currently sources credits from both the voluntary and compliance markets.
Credit approval process
To ensure the integrity of carboNZero certification, carbon credits used for offsetting must be:
- Independently verified to a voluntary or compliance standard recognised by the Programme
- Assessed and approved by the Programme
- Issued in a recognised registry
- Retired, cancelled or otherwise taken out of circulation in the Programme account in the appropriate registry
In developing our assessment process, we have taken into account regulations that are being developed by various governments. There are numerous publications where the quality of offsets or carbon credits is debated. The use of poor quality offsets is often the basis on which accusations of “greenwash” are made. Claims of carbon neutrality based on offsets that do not meet the requirements of recognised standards may be subject to investigation by regulators of advertising standards or consumer protection laws, therefore it is important to ensure good quality credits are used.
Credits currently approved by the programme
Table 1 lists the types of carbon credits that are currently approved for use by the Programme. This list is updated regularly to reflect the latest assessments conducted by the Programme.
Table 1: List of carbon credits currently approved by the Programme
Name |
Country |
Type of credit |
Approval status for country where the certification claim is made: |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Australia |
New Zealand |
Chile |
UK |
|||
2.225 MW wind power project in Tamilnadu, India. |
India |
VCU |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Arrozal, GGP and Sul America Ceramics Fuel Switching Project |
Brazil |
VCU |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Beijing 48 MW Guanting Wind Power Project |
China |
VCU |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| Biomass based steam generation project | India | VCU | Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| Burwood Landfill Gas to Queen Elizabeth II Park | New Zealand | VCU | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Capacity Upgrade of Gunung Salak Geothermal Power Plant Project, Indonesia |
Indonesia |
VCU |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Dachunhe Sanji 6MW Hydropower Project in Yunnan Province |
China |
VCU |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| Diaobingshan Wind Power Project | China |
VCU |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Dori Alimentos Ltd - Biomass Based Project - Brazil |
Brazil |
VCU |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Extension of a Hydro Power Project UHE Mascarenhas Power Upgrading Project |
Brazil |
VCU |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
InfraVest Changbin and Taichung bundled Wind Farms Project - Taiwan |
Taiwan |
VER |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Kalealti 15 MW Hydropower Plant, Turkey |
Turkey |
VCU |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Kamiranga Ceramic Fuel Switching Project |
Brazil |
VCU |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| Keban 5 MW Hydropower Plant | Turkey |
VCU |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
NOBRECEL Biomass energy project |
Brazil |
VCU |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Palmerston North Land Fill Gas Project in NZ |
New Zealand |
VER |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
PFSI EBEX21 forests |
New Zealand |
AAU |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Project 3527: CrisToro - Lebu Wind Project |
Chile |
CER |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Siam Cement Biomass Project |
Thailand |
VER |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| Sulige Natural Gas based Power Generation Project | China | VCU | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Switching to Renewable Biomass "Cenol and Telha Forte Ceramics Switching Fuel Project" |
Brazil |
VCU |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Taranaki Hydro project |
New Zealand |
AAU |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Tararua Wind Farm stage II |
New Zealand |
VER |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Te Apiti Wind Farm |
New Zealand |
VER |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Voluntary EBEX21 forests |
New Zealand |
VER |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Waipori Hydro project |
New Zealand |
AAU |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Waste Water treatment at General Starch |
Thailand |
VCU |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
White Hill Wind Farm |
New Zealand |
VER |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| Xinjiang Wind Farm Project | China | VCU | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Yuntdag Wind Power Project |
Turkey |
VER |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Registries
The Programme holds accounts in several external carbon credit registries as the means to publicly cancel or retire credits used to offset Participants’ emissions during the carboNZero certification process.
The Programme relies on registries to satisfy some of the key principles for offsetting such as traceability and transparency, as shown in Table 2. This table also shows the role of carbon credit standards in satisfying other key principles for offsetting.
The Programme currently has accounts in the following registries:
Markit Registry (www.markitenvironmental.com)(direct link to public view)
Gold Standard Registry (https://gs1.apx.com)
NZ Emissions Unit Register (www.eur.govt.nz)
These registries have been assessed by the Programme and are considered to be appropriate for use.
Table 2: Key principles of offsetting and how they are satisfied.
Principle |
Registry or Standard |
Explanation |
|---|---|---|
Additional |
Standard |
The credit standard should ensure that the project overcomes investment barriers by requiring appropriate additionality tests to be performed |
Permanent |
Standard |
The standard should ensure the emissions reductions will be effective for at least 100 years |
Leakage |
Standard |
The standard should ensure that there additional or unintended emissions will not take place as a result of the project’s implementation and operations |
Measurable |
Standard |
The standard should ensure an appropriate methodology for measuring the emissions reductions generated by the project is used |
Verifiable |
Standard |
The standard should ensure the credits claimed are verified by an accredited verifier. |
Traceable |
Registry |
A registry should have systems in place to ensure a user can track any credit back to the source project and demonstrate that there has been no double counting |
Transparent |
Registry |
A registry should require sufficient documentation showing how the credit was created and/or provide references to source this from outside the registry |
Standards
Most carbon credits available on the global carbon markets are based on either compliance or voluntary standards which include the principles listed in Table 2. There are some carbon credits within the voluntary market that are based on no established standard. The Programme reviews and assesses carbon credits at the project level. This means that the standard and the project are assessed. Not all verified carbon credits will necessarily meet the Programme requirements. Standards that have been assessed as being acceptable to the Programme currently include:
(Voluntary) Gold Standard (GS)
(Voluntary) Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS)
(Compliance) Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
(Compliance) Joint Implementation (JI)
(Compliance) Permanent Forest Sinks Initiative (PFSI)
(Compliance) Projects to Reduce Emissions (PRE)
Gold Standard
The Gold Standard (GS) was established in 2003 as a non-profit foundation under Swiss law by a consortium of non-governmental organisations led by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The Gold Standard provides a certified label that can be applied to CDM, JI and voluntary projects. Only energy efficiency and renewable energy projects are eligible under the Gold Standard. These projects must meet additionality and sustainability criteria set by the Gold Standard. For this reason, these projects are considered to offer additional co-benefits to investors. The requirements and methodologies of the Gold Standard are freely available at www.cdmgoldstandard.org.
When applied to CDM and JI projects, the Gold Standard label is additional voluntary endorsement sought by the project. It is not a requirement of CDM and JI that projects are Gold Standard certified. The Gold Standard cannot issue CDM or JI credits.
Gold Standard project design document (PDD) criteria are used to validate voluntary offset projects and these may take place only in countries that do not have a reduction target under the Kyoto Protocol. The Gold Standard Executive Board issues Verified Emissions Reduction units (VERs) which are voluntary credits. Validation of the voluntary projects and verification of the emissions reductions are undertaken by Designated Operational Entities (DOEs) or Accredited Independent Entities (AIEs) accredited by the CDM or JI Executive Boards. The Gold Standard maintains a public registry for all Gold Standard certified projects (including the CDM and JI projects) and for Gold Standard VERs at http://goldstandard.apx.com.
Voluntary Carbon Standard
The Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) claims to provide a robust, new global standard and programme for approval of credible voluntary offsets. Its programme objectives are to :
Standardise and provide transparency and credibility to the voluntary offset market.
Enhance business, consumer and government confidence in voluntary offsets.
Create a trusted and tradable voluntary offset credit; the Voluntary Carbon Unit (VCU)
Stimulate additional investments in emissions reductions and low carbon solutions
Experiment and stimulate innovation in emission reduction technologies and offer lessons that can be build into future regulation.
Provide a clear chain of ownership over voluntary offsets that prevents them being used twice. This is achieved through multiple VCS registries and a central project database that is open to the public.
Seven technical working groups provide advice to the VCS Committee on governance, additionality, validation and verification, registries, land use change and forestry, general policy issues and performance standards.
The VCS uses an eight point framework – all carbon credits must be real, measurable, permanent, additional, independently verified, transparently listed, uniquely numbered, and conservatively estimated .
The core document for project developers is the Voluntary Carbon Standard 2007.1 , and is based on the ISO14064 GHG accounting standards. The following programmes are also approved under the VCS:
UNFCCC Clean Development Mechanism
This means that projects that have followed the requirements of one of the programmes listed above will be recognised by the VCS.
www.v-c-s.org/about.html (accessed 14-12-10)
www.v-c-s.org/docs/VCS Standard 091910.pdf (accessed 22-12-10)
www.v-c-s.org/docs/Voluntary Carbon Standard 2007_1.pdf (access 22-12-10)
http://cdm.unfccc.int/about/index.html (accessed 27-1-11)
Clean Development Mechanism
As described on the CDM website , the CDM allows emission-reduction projects in developing countries to earn certified emission reduction (CER) units. These CERs can be traded and sold, and used by industrialised countries to a meet a part of their emission reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol.
The mechanism stimulates sustainable development and emission reductions, while giving industrialised countries some flexibility in how they meet their emission reduction limitation targets. There are 7 essential steps for projects to gain credits via the CDM :
Project design
National approval
Validation
Registration
Monitoring
Verification
CER issuance
Joint Implementation
As described by the UNFCCC , the mechanism known as “joint implementation (JI)” defined in Article 6 of the Kyoto Protocol, allows a country with an emission reduction or limitation commitment under the Kyoto Protocol (Annex B Party) to earn Emission Reduction Units (ERUs) from an emission-reduction or emission removal project in another Annex B Party, each equivalent to one tonne of CO2, which can be counted towards meeting its Kyoto target’.
Credits can be earned via either Track 1 or Track 2 procedures, and projects must have approval of the host Party and participants have to be authorised to participate by a Party involved in the project. Track 1 essentially allows the host Party (country) to verify and issue the ERUs, provided the host Party meets all the eligibility requirements to issue their own ERUs. If a host Party does not meet all of the eligibility requirements, verification must be done through the verification procedure under the Joint Implementation Supervisory Committee (JISC) – this is a Track 2 procedure. Under this procedure, an independent entity accredited by the JISC determines whether the relevant requirements have been met before the host Party can issue and transfer ERUs.
PRE - Projects to Reduce Emissions
The New Zealand Ministry for the Environment (MfE) describes the Projects to Reduce Emissions (PRE) as a mechanism to allow emission reduction projects to apply for carbon credits. There were two contestable tender rounds in 2003 and 2004.
Projects must be additional to business-as-usual, and PRE projects are eligible to become Joint Implementation (JI) initiatives. This means that PRE project owners can sell the emission units they earn through the JI mechanism.
http://cdm.unfccc.int/Projects/diagram.html (accessed 27-1-11)
http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/mechanisms/joint_implementation/items/1674.php (accessed 1/2/11)
http://www.mfe.govt.nz/issues/climate/policies-initiatives/projects/ (accessed 1/2/11)
PFSI - Permanent Forests Sinks Initiative
The Ministry for Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) describes the Permanent Forest Sink Initiative (PFSI) as a mechanism to promote the establishment of permanent forests on previously unforested land. It offers landowners of permanent forests established after 1 January 1990 the opportunity to earn Assigned Amount Units (AAUs) for the carbon sequestered by their forests since 1 January 2008. The PFSI complements the forestry sector in the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (NZ-ETS).
Eligible forests must be human induced, sometimes referred to as removals enhancement, through actions such as planting, seeding, or removal of grazing livestock. PFSI participants must enter into a covenant with the New Zealand Crown to ensure permanence of the forest. Limited harvesting is allowed on a continuous cover forestry basis.
www.maf.govt.nz/forestry/funding-programmes/permanent-forest-sink-initiative.aspx (accessed 1/2/11)
Useful links
www.markitenvironmental.com voluntary carbon credit registry
http://goldstandard.apx.com/ carbon credit registry for Gold Standard credits
www.eur.govt.nz the New Zealand national register for ownership and status of Kyoto units
www.cdmgoldstandard.org Gold Standard website
www.v-c-s.org Voluntary Carbon Standard website and project database
http://cdm.unfccc.int/about/index.html Clean Development Mechanism website
http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/mechanisms/joint_implementation/items/1674.php Joint Implementation website
http://www.mfe.govt.nz/issues/climate/policies-initiatives/projects MfE Projects to Reduce Emissions website
http://www.maf.govt.nz/forestry/funding-programmes/permanent-forest-sink-initiative.aspx MAF Permanent Forest Sinks Initiative website
www.ebex21.co.nz – a New Zealand native forest sinks project
