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Draft Rice Cultivation Project Protocol V1.0 to be presented to Reserve Board on December 14
Climate Action Offsetter: CBRE
written by CBRE
Commercial real estate is responsible for approximately 18 percent of U.S. GHG emissions. As the world’s largest commercial real estate services company, CBRE has as much an opportunity as it does an obligation to seek meaningful ways to reduce the environmental footprint of both our company and our industry. Our corporate carbon neutrality commitment, under which we strive to both reduce our emissions and mitigate those that are unavoidable, is one way we go about meeting our environmental goals and responsibilities.
In 2010, CBRE became our industry’s first carbon neutral company and the second ever to earn certification of carbon neutrality under the Australian Government’s National Carbon Offset Standard. To earn these distinctions, CBRE implemented rigorous carbon mitigation programs, including green leasing standards and sustainable operation protocols, and retired high quality carbon offset after a process of audits, part of which included diligent selection of carbon offset projects and standards.
The Climate Action Reserve provides some of the highest quality carbon offsets projects in the world. The Reserve is credible and also provides a selection of project types that CBRE was excited to support. The Reserve’s domestic focus also gave us a means to make investments in local projects and economies, and participate in the system that will underpin the meaningful work of AB 32 in setting up California’s cap and trade system.
CBRE purchased and retired offsets from several socially responsible projects in communities we serve, including the Davis Landfill Gas Offset Project, a methane capture and destruction project in Layton, Ohio; Sioux Falls Regional Sanitary Landfill in Minnehaha County, South Dakota; and the Denton Landfill Gas Destruction Project in Denton, Texas. Reducing emissions from landfills is an important objective of our company, and we have innovative policies to reduce and recycle construction waste to further support the greening of landfills. And as a commercial real estate services firm that supports the use of green building materials, we also support forest preservation efforts. We are proud to include the Garcia River Forest, a conservation-based forest management project that increases sequestration and storage of carbon in Mendocino County, California, in our portfolio of offsets to achieve carbon neutrality.
Spanish translation of draft Mexico Forest Protocol now available – public comments due January 20
New policy for project start date and initiation of reporting
Reserve Featured at COP17 Events
Linda Adams, Chair of the Reserve Board of Directors, and Derik Broekhoff, VP Policy, will be speaking at several COP 17 side events in Durban, including two official UN side events and a session in the U.S. Center.
Friday, December 2
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Blyde River Room, Durban ICC
Official UN side event – Effective Trading Systems to Facilitate Linking and Complement Multilateral Actions: A discussion of national and state government trading scheme designs and their potential for linking.
In the absence of a single international market, state and national governments are taking the lead in developing emissions trading schemes around the world with unique design features that create complexity for linkages. In a cross-cutting panel discussion, panelists from NGOs, governments, and the private sector will examine how these various programs have addressed caps and allowance allocation issues, the role of offsets, and REDD as potential areas of both divergence and congruity. Topics will include possible strategies to implement effective trading systems that facilitate linking and complement broader multilateral action.
Hosted by the Climate Action Reserve and Environmental Defense Fund
Tuesday, December 6
3:30 pm – 4:45 pm
Standard Bank, Auditorium
Three Dimensional Chess: Advancing REDD+ in Mexico
California is contemplating the crediting of reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD+) in other countries, including Mexico, as part of its recently adopted cap-and-trade program. REDD+ initiatives aim to create value for the effective conservation of forests by addressing the fundamental economic and social drivers of deforestation and degradation. To do so, successful REDD+ initiatives will require coordinated action from multiple actors responsible for the health of forests including national and sub-national governments as well as private land owners and indigenous peoples. The Climate Action Reserve will highlight efforts being undertaken at multiple levels in Mexico to design REDD+ programs linked to the California carbon market and beyond.
Moderator: Derik Broekhoff, Vice President of Policy, Climate Action Reserve
Speakers:
- Christoph Neitzel, PhD Candidate at the Faculty of Economics, UNAM
- Jose Carlos Fernandez, Head of the International Affairs and Financial Development Unit, CONAFOR
- Michelle Passero, Senior Climate Policy Advisor, The Nature Conservancy
Wednesday, December 7
10:15 am – 11:30 am
Standard Bank, Board Room
The World’s Second Largest Carbon Market: California and the North American Regional Program
Amidst stalemate and inaction in Washington, North America’s regional markets are coming into their own. California–the world’s 7th largest economy–is on track to launch the world’s second largest carbon market in 2012, with the first full compliance year in 2013. The potential addition of British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec would not only form North America’s first international carbon market, known as the Western Climate Initiative (WCI), but also provide critical liquidity. The Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States of the Regional Greenhouse Gas
Initiative (RGGI) are currently reviewing the program and considering tightening the cap, which could correct the current over-supply problem. This session will explore the latest developments in North America’s growing regional markets.
Moderator: David Hunter, US Director, IETA
Speakers:
- Mary Nichols, Chair, California Air Resources Board
- Linda Adams, Chairman of the Board, Climate Action Reserve and Founding President, R20-Regions of Climate Action
- Jelena Semjanovic, Senior Analyst, Point Carbon
- Nikki Roy, Vice President for Strategic Outreach, Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES)
Thursday, December 8
3:00 pm – 4:30 pm
U.S. Center
The federal government and state and regional agencies and organizations are continuing to move forward on a sensible path to address greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. The U.S. domestic climate change side event will highlight domestic regulatory, programmatic, and voluntary activities (in place and planned) that are occurring at the federal, regional and state level and by NGOs. We will showcase a set of key actions and activities, including the light-duty vehicle greenhouse gas rule, the medium and heavy greenhouse gas rule, the greenhouse gas mandatory reporting rule, GHG permitting, and the renewable fuel standard. We will also highlight activities coming out of California (the California Air Resources Board and the Climate Action Reserve) and by The Climate Registry.
Thursday, December 8
4:45 pm – 6:15 pm
DEC, Hex River
Official UN side event – Understanding the impact of GHG mitigation activities
Companies and all levels of government want to understand the real impact of GHG reduction actions. Leaders from the public and private sectors share examples of actions they are taking to mitigate GHG emissions, highlight tools needed to quantify these, and provide perspectives on priorities for making the greatest impact.
Moderators:
- David Rosenheim, Executive Director, The Climate Registry
- Misti Duvall, National Association of Clean Air Agencies (NACAA)
Speakers:
- Linda Adams, President, R20
- Dr. Thomas Becker, Vice President for Government Affairs, BMW
- Larry Greene, National Association of Clean Air Agencies (NACAA)
- Minister Terry Lake, Minister of Environment, Government of British Columbia
- Mary Nichols, Chairman, California Air Resources Board
Errata and Clarifications released for the Article 5 ODS Project Protocol Version 1.0 and U.S. Landfill Version 2.1
Public comment period open for draft Mexico Forest Protocol Version 1.0
Climate Action Offsetter: NW Natural customers get Smart (Energy)
written by The Climate Trust
“Use less. Offset the rest.” That’s the slogan for NW Natural’s Smart Energy voluntary offset program, now in its fifth year.
And the Smart Energy symbol? A cow (more on that later).
NW Natural delivers natural gas to customers in the most populous areas of Oregon and SW Washington.
Company leaders know their customers expect utility providers to be local leaders in environmental protection and energy efficiency. So NW Natural became the nation’s first stand-alone gas (that is, not affiliated with an electric company) to help customers offset greenhouse gas emissions associated with their natural gas use.
In 2007, the company launched Smart Energy. Residential customers can choose to pay a monthly flat fee of $6 or a per-therm option of just over a penny to purchase carbon offsets. Businesses can participate for as little as $10 a month.
Smart Energy works with The Climate Trust to ensure offsets retired on behalf of customers are high quality. Through The Climate Trust, Smart Energy is investing in biodigesters on Northwest dairy farms. Here’s the logic (and where the cows come in):
• A typical cow produces 120 pounds of waste each day.
• Decomposing manure creates methane – 21 times as potent a greenhouse gas as carbon dioxide.
• Biodigesters trap methane while creating an on-demand renewable energy source: biogas.
As of October 2011, 13,744 NW Natural customers were participating in Smart Energy. Their investments will keep more than 115,000 tons of emissions from reaching the atmosphere – the amount created by more than 1,300 auto trips from Portland to New York.
NW Natural still encourages their customers to conserve energy. But now they can go one step farther toward protecting the environment.
Use less. Offset the rest.
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Would you like to be featured in the Reserve newsletter and earn a free reusable Reserve water bottle? Each monthly newsletter, the Reserve will showcase an individual or organization who has retired CRTs to offset their emissions. To submit an entry, please share a few paragraphs (up to 350 words) about you and your decision to offset. Photos are welcome! Featured submissions in the newsletter will earn water bottles, and all submitted entries will be posted on the Reserve web blog. Email your entries to: rhey@climateactionreserve.org.
This is an excellent opportunity to highlight your environmental stewardship and advancement of climate solutions. This is also an excellent opportunity to raise awareness of outstanding GHG reduction projects.