Carbon offsets allow countries or companies to pay others to cut greenhouse gas emissions to offset their own. While companies are already trading carbon offset credits in private markets, the so-calledwould fix rules enabling countries to partly achieve their national climate targets by buying such credits.
Countries will need to decide on those methodologies next year or risk running into a 2023 deadline when carbon-cutting projects registered under old U.N. rules have to apply to be part of the new system. "Glasgow was a real breakthrough...it doesn't send a great signal if all the sudden they get caught up on the technical issues," said David Burns, a policy expert and negotiations observer for the non-profit World Resources Institute.
Key sticking points also include whether there should be a centralized body where trades are reported, a system the European Union supports. The United States prefers a more diffuse, decentralized system.As countries struggle to agree, private markets with no global standards are moving forward. A consensus at the United Nations would send a strong signal to private markets on what their standards should be, said Barata, who also co-chairs an expert panel for ICVCM.
A slow burn?