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Author: Sam Hope

CSR vs ESG

CSR and ESG: What are these acronyms?

Recent years have been punctuated by discussions around sustainability. Under this concept, there is the expectation for corporates to act to minimise their impact on our planet. As such, more and more organisations have been developing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) or Environmental Social Governance (ESG)

renewable energy

Renewable Energy: An introduction

Renewable energy refers to energy sources that are naturally replenished and therefore, have the potential to be used indefinitely. These sources include solar, wind, hydropower, geothermal, and biomass. In contrast, non-renewable sources such as fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) are finite. This means

2022: A year in review

2022: A year in review

2022 came with its own set of challenges. Geopolitics caused all markets to suffer, and the voluntary carbon market (VCM) was no exception. The combination of external influences (the war in Ukraine, global energy crises), market criticism and uncertainties (carbon credit project failure, greenwashing, credibility

standards

Market participants: The standards

The standards play a key role on the voluntary carbon markets (VCM). What is the difference between standards and registries? In conversations surrounding the carbon markets, standards and registries are terms often used interchangeably. However, there is a distinction between the two. A standard prescribes

Project Developers

Market participants: The project developer

As mentioned in previous posts, we have seen an increase in the number of corporates pledging to reach net zero by 2050 and earlier. This is to limit global warming to 1.5°C in line with international targets set out by the 2015 Paris Agreement. To

vintage

What is the vintage of a carbon credit?

The ‘vintage’ of a carbon credit is a topic often discussed but not always fully understood. What is a vintage? The vintage of a carbon credit is typically referred to as its vintage year. It can be thought of similarly to the vintage of a

sbti

Net Zero: SBTi urges the use of carbon credits

The last few months have seen a number of developments in the voluntary carbon market (VCM). In standards setting, the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (IC-VCM) released their draft Core Carbon Principles which received highly varied feedback from voluntary standards. In aviation, EasyJet

baseline

What is an emissions baseline?

In order to travel to on the road to net zero emissions, organisations need to know their carbon footprint. Therefore, this footprint should encompass all scopes to give the most comprehensive impression of the organisation’s environmental impact. Here is a little summary of what scopes

carbon leakage

Carbon leakage

Unlike permanence, which we covered previously, carbon leakage is not a tenet of the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market’s (IC-VCM) Core Carbon Principles. It is, nonetheless, a subsection of the Principles’ Robust quantification. Therefore, understanding what leakage implies is important.   What is leakage? 

permanence of carbon credits

Permanence of carbon credits

Being aware of the tenets constituting a high integrity carbon credit is important to avoid claims of greenwashing while increasing accountability and transparency in an opaque market. There are ten tenets recognised by the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (IC-VCM). Two of these,