[SustainableTompkins] Article: Britain helps citizens atone for emissions

[GayNicholson at aol.com]

 (http://www.csmonitor.com/) 
 
 
 
 
     
 
 
 
 
 
 
     
 
from the February 08, 2007 edition -  
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0208/p06s01-woeu.html
Britain helps citizens atone for emissions
The government unveiled a plan to help consumers more  effectively offset the 
carbon dioxide their lifestyles produce.
By _Mark  Rice-Oxley_ 
(http://www.csmonitor.com/cgi-bin/encryptmail.pl?ID=B2B0B0B4B0B7B2B0B0B9B4B7B5B5&url=/2007/0208/p06s01-woeu.html)  | Correspondent of 
The  Christian Science Monitor
 

LONDON
 
So you took that transatlantic flight, paid $20 to offset the  greenhouse 
gases ejected by the plane, and reduced your carbon  footprint. But did you 
really help save the planet?  
As the clamor over global warming gets ever louder, the practice  of carbon 
offsetting – paying a third party to remove or otherwise  offset an amount of 
carbon equivalent to the volume emitted – is now  falling under close scrutiny. 
 
Environmental experts are warning that some projects are less  effective than 
others, and say the market urgently needs some form  of regulation: 
Carbon-offsetting prices vary enormously, from around  $10 to $50 a ton, and consumers 
have little idea what they are  actually getting for their money.  
"Part of the problem is that there are no real standards for  carbon 
offsetting," says Richard Tarasofsky, a sustainable  development expert at the 
London-based Chatham House think tank.  Without international certification, he says, 
the new fad could  quickly be compromised.  
Against this backdrop, Britain has announced plans to become the  first 
country to set a standard on how effective and worthy  offsetting projects are. A 
"kitemark," or official logo,will be  introduced in the autumn to "raise 
awareness so that consumers  understand what offsetting is and how it can contribute 
to tackling  climate change," explains one government official on customary  
condition of anonymity.  
Where your money goes 
But which projects will get the nod? Environmentalists tend to  agree that 
the best are those that seek to reduce emissions, such as  renewable energy 
projects, rather than those that sequester carbon  already in the atmosphere, like 
reforestation projects, as no one  can say for certain whether a new tree 
will survive to absorb a  lifetime's carbon dioxide.  
"It's very difficult to measure the emissions reduction from a  tree or a new 
forest – it depends on where it is grown," says Kirsty  Clough, an offsetting 
expert with the Worldwide Fund for Nature  (WWF). And at the end of the day, 
she points out, "it's not driving  a lower-carbon economy."  
Concern is growing that the British program will not always  promote the best 
projects. The new standard will be based on an  international system already 
established by the Kyoto process known  as the Clean Development Mechanism 
(CDM). This, experts say, tends  to favor large industrial schemes to reduce 
other harmful gases like  chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and methane over smaller 
projects that  tackle carbon emissions.  
"This doesn't help us move to low-carbon economies," warns Simon  Retallack 
of London's Institute for Public Policy Research. "CFCs  are a low-hanging 
fruit much easier to reduce."  
Michael Buick, a spokesman for Climate Care, one of Britain's  largest 
offsetting companies, says that bringing in CDM-style  standards would undermine 
some of Climate Care's worthiest projects,  such as an efficient-stoves program 
in Mexico. One new stove alone,  he says, cuts 1.5 tons of CO2 a year.  
"There are very worthwhile types of project that the Kyoto system  has not 
yet found a way of including," says Mr. Buick. "If the  government standard 
advises people only to buy [Kyoto-approved  schemes] and if people follow that 
advice, then demand will dry up  for projects like our efficient stoves in Mexico 
and that would mean  we could no longer fund those kinds of projects."  
A gold standard for offsets 
The WWF is urging governments instead to adopt its so-called Gold  Standard, 
a hallmark that sets stringent criteria including energy  efficiency, 
sustainable development, transition to lower-carbon  energy systems, and 
"additionality" – whether a project would have  not taken place without the offset 
investment. Under this standard,  reforestation, large hydroelectric power schemes, 
and incineration  energy are excluded.  
Carbon offsetting is growing exponentially. Buick's company has  moved from 
100,000 tons of CO2 "sold"in 2004-05 to a forecast of 1  million tons in 
2006-07. Worldwide estimates expect the market,  worth around $35 million in 2005, 
to top $500 million in the next  three years.  
Personal 'carbon accounts' and more 
Despite the reservations about the British "kitemark" scheme, the  government 
is at least showing signs of action. It claims it will  double its Kyoto 
target – to reduce emissions by 12.5 percent by  2010. It is poised next month to 
introduce a climate-change law –  another world first, according to 
environment minister David  Miliband – that will propose targets to cut emissions and 
encourage  people to measure their own carbon footprint.  
And it is also looking into the feasibility of issuing each  individual with 
a 'personal carbon account', complete with credits  that could be traded and 
redeemed against energy purchases in a  similar fashion to a Europe-wide 
emissions trading scheme which  provides a financial incentive for industry to 
reduce emissions.  
Top politicians meanwhile have suddenly recognized the importance  of green 
credentials. When Tony Blair was criticized for flying for  a winter holiday to 
Barbados, his top ministers – including putative  successor Gordon Brown – 
quickly let it be known how modest their  own personal international travel is 
and how assiduously they offset  their carbon emissions.  
Yet many environmentalists say there is a lot more that countries  like 
Britain must do to reduce emissions and get people to offset.  Friends of the Earth 
warn that aviation emissions in Britain are  rising sharply. The Institute 
for Public Policy Research, a British  think tank, is calling for offsetting to 
be the "default" position  when it comes to flying.  
"It's no good just waiting for people to sign up voluntarily,"  says Mr. 
Retallack. "The public are much more likely to go along  with offsetting if it's 
assumed they will offset but are given a box  to tick if they don't want to." 
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----------------------------------------------------
Gay  Nicholson, Ph.D. 

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607-279-6618  (cell)

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Lansing, NY  14882
gaynicholson at aol.com

Sustainable Tompkins 
Program  Coordinator 
w_ww.sustainabletompkins.org_ (http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/) 

Southern Tier Energy$mart Communities
Regional  Coordinator
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County
615 Willow  Ave., Ithaca, NY 14850
agn1 at cornell.edu