In the face of global warming, it never became more important to consider that an intervention will have to generate sustained value in the years to come. The implementation of climate action and sustainable development in an integrated manner presents an opportunity for businesses to maximise the benefits achieved at all levels. Corporate climate strategies need to generate and capture value, while benefiting society and the planet.
Project developers must also improve in the quality of generated carbon credits to become a valid climate solution, measuring CO2 reductions that deliver environmental and social co-benefits that are monitored and accounted for throughout time, and not just a one off activity that is verified during an auditing exercise.
As we enter into a new era in the race of climate neutrality, lets not forget that carbon credits are not all created equal. “While companies might be tempted to create a portfolio of carbon credits that encompasses their target CO2e volume while minimising costs, they need to ensure their investment is channeled towards projects that deliver long-lasting quality results and have no diverse impact. While in general, the price of a carbon credit and its quality are not correlated, there is evidence that prices of carbon credits from the land sector and many technology development projects are too low to deliver long-lasting quality results”.
Hopefully as we transition to a post Paris era, the market will start seeing more higher quality projects being portrayed at the UNFCCC Climate Neutral Now platform, such as ours with the schools in Uganda. Already the Gold Standard has an interesting variety of carbon credits on sale with sustainable development contributions that significantly boost market credibility.