Caught in between: credibility and feasibility of the voluntary carbon market post-2020
Caught in between: credibility and feasibility of the voluntary carbon market post-2020
复制标题
夹在中间：2020年后自愿碳市场的可信度和可行性
作者：
N. Kreibich;L. Hermwille
摘要一方面，大量的公司已经承诺实现净零排放，其中许多公司预计将用碳信用额抵消一些剩余的排放，这表明未来需求激增。然而，自愿碳市场的供应方正在努力使其商业模式与巴黎协定的新法律的架构保持一致。本文将这两种观点并列。报告概述了482家作出某种形式的中立/净零承诺的大公司的计划，并追溯了自愿碳市场供应方为提出一种可行的商业模式而进行的斗争，这种商业模式确保环境完整性并有助于实现《巴黎协定》的目标。我们的分析发现，如果碳信用额被用来抵消剩余的排放量对中立的目标，这些信用额需要考虑东道国的国家自主贡献（NDC），以确保环境的完整性。然而，实施这一办法具有挑战性，需要创新的解决办法和政治支持。私营部门公司对碳信用的信心与自愿碳市场主要供应商不断寻求共同立场之间的不匹配日益加剧。自愿碳市场尚未找到一种方法，以可信和合法的方式与巴黎协定的新法律的架构保持一致。需要在国家和国际一级提供公共政策支持，以便为市场的未来活动实施强有力的办法。
ABSTRACT On the one hand, a large number of companies have committed to achieve net zero emissions and many of them foresee to offset some remaining emissions with carbon credits, suggesting a surge of future demand. Yet, the supply side of the voluntary carbon market is struggling to align its business model with the new legal architecture of the Paris Agreement. This article juxtaposes these two perspectives. It provides an overview of the plans of 482 major companies with some form of neutrality/net zero pledge and traces the struggle on the supply side of the voluntary carbon market to come up with a viable business model that ensures environmental integrity and contributes to achieving the objectives of the Paris Agreement. Our analysis finds that if carbon credits are used to offset remaining emissions against neutrality objectives, these credits need to be accounted against the host countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to ensure environmental integrity. Yet, operationalizing this approach is challenging and will require innovative solutions and political support. Key policy insights There is a growing mismatch between the faith placed in carbon credits by private sector companies and the continued quest for a common position of the main suppliers of the voluntary carbon market. The voluntary carbon market has not yet found a way to align itself with the new legal architecture of the Paris Agreement in a credible and legitimate way. Public policy support at the national and international level will be needed to operationalize a robust approach for the market’s future activities.