tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3167993767680436061.post858937578513398481..comments2023-04-16T09:41:07.167-04:00Comments on The Carbon Monitor: Next ice age on holdThe Carbon Monitorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17726706055258319353noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3167993767680436061.post-66399593407859563712008-01-26T11:04:00.000-05:002008-01-26T11:04:00.000-05:00You raise a very good piont, that of legal liabili...You raise a very good piont, that of legal liability. It's not an issue I've read much about. Have there been suits filed relating to retail carbon offsets?<BR/><BR/>Some verifiers must be better respected than others. The same for guidelines. For example, the Voluntary Carbon Standards and the U.N.'s Clean Development Mechanism don't allow forestry projects to sell carbon credits or offsets for years after the trees go in the ground. Voluntary retail offset programs seem to sell offsets before trees are planted. I still don't think a single forestry project has been approved under the CDM, and I'd guess stringent guidelines have a lot do with that.<BR/><BR/>Another issue this brings to mind: Millions of dollars of offsets have been generated in the United States. Will they have any value once the U.S. adopts federal cap-and-trade regulations? I would imagine the Chicago Climate Exchange will ensure credits traded there will be valid under new legislation, but what about suspect retail projects? Allowing those credits to count toward an eventual cap-and-trade law would devalue the entire system.The Carbon Monitorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17726706055258319353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3167993767680436061.post-54364844282893203362008-01-26T10:24:00.000-05:002008-01-26T10:24:00.000-05:00Accounting for GHG offset projects The science beh...Accounting for GHG offset projects <BR/>The science behind many of the GHG offset projects is questionable, and the ability to tie specific dollars donated to a specific ton of GHG offset is impossible to do. It is largely unregulated, and the vast amount of GHG offsets are not recorded or inventoried in any type of actual carbon registry. There is no comparability between offset projects, and the dollars invested.<BR/>As the voluntary market increases, the overall dollars invested grows, sooner or later attorneys are going to get involved. At that point the rules will be interpreted, and they will be interpreted by attorneys, CPA’s and outside experts; legal liability will be assigned. Carbon credits will be tied to specific dollars spent.<BR/>Once it becomes a legal liability issue, you will see a lot of science based organizations trying to distance themselves from the verification of a specific GHG offset amount.<BR/>Is an expert in a field such as oceanography sequestration projects actually going to put his signature on a report that could end up representing millions of dollars of value, and be willing to defend it in court? Professional liability insurance is not something these individuals are familiar with. They will in the future!<BR/>It is the consistency and comparability standards that are lacking. Third party verification procedures and compliance testing are still not a requirement of non regulated projects. <BR/>There are many organizations offering verification procedures and accounting rules. They are defining their own verification and accounting standards. As long as these companies are only “verifying” feel good type projects they will continue to operate. If they are asked to verify projects that have ended up in a civil law suit, or projects that are attempting to meet specific state or federal regulations, or a cap and trade type credit, they themselves are going to ask for outside rules.<BR/>Right now it is safe to assume that any company buying an offset credit is recording it as a public relations expense and is not attempting to recognize it as an asset on the balance sheet. Creating a financial asset on a company balance sheet is going to require a whole lot more rules than we have in place today.CarbonVerify.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07683197112229010219noreply@blogger.com