Tricorona, WWF Germany and Stockholm Environment Institute partner to compare voluntary CO2-offset standards

Tricorona, the Stockholm Environment Institute and WWF Germany have today released a joint report “A comparison of Carbon Offset Standards ”.

The main conclusion of the report is that Gold Standard offsets from projects within the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol are the offsets with the highest credibility and environmental integrity, but that other offset types, in particular Gold Standard offsets from non-Kyoto projects, also have an important role to play.

Looking at the volume of emission reductions achieved, the CDM is by far the most commonly applied standard. Stimulation for this standard has come from the obligatory emissions trading markets, which turned CDM into a success tool for climate protection.

This report discusses the role of the voluntary carbon market and provides an overview of the most important currently available carbon offset standards. It compares the following standards side-by-side, outlining the key aspects of each:

• Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
• Gold Standard (GS)
• Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS)
• VER+
• The Voluntary Offset Standard (VOS)
• Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX)
• The Climate, Community & Biodiversity Standards (CCBS)
• Plan Vivo System