Cart 0
Plannet Zero is proud to announce that we are the first offset retailer to host the Global Emission Reduction (GER) by Net Zero Markets on our Carbon Offset Marketplace. The GER was created to tackle poor price transparency and a dizzying variety of offsetting projects and standards within the voluntary carbon market. It is ideal for businesses who want a straight-forward way to offset their carbon footprint. As the simplifying, standardising effect of the GER grows, the voluntary carbon market can scale, and more funds can flow into projects providing vital environmental services.
The Makeup of the GER
Now, the GER is directly available for customers of Plannet Zero. Like our other credits, the GER is backed by offset projects. Unusually, it is a bundle of subcontracts that represent different sectors of the voluntary carbon market. All credits are chosen from projects that have fulfilled the requirements below, as verified by the teams at Redshaw Advisors and AirCarbon Exchange. This means that offsetters don’t need to worry about validity, quality, or which kind of credit might be best for them: the GER has it all.
- Base Carbon Contract (BCC): credits generated by renewables and energy efficiency projects that have been approved by Verra or Gold Standard.
- Forestry Carbon Contract (FCC): credits generated from agricultural, forestry and land use projects that have been approved by Verra or Gold Standard.
- Prime Carbon Contract (PCC): credits generated by those projects with additional benefits that meet at least three of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and have been approved by Verra or Gold Standard.
- Carbon Capture Contract (CCC): credits from projects that provide long-lived removal of carbon emissions, such as biochar or direct air carbon capture projects, that have been approved by Verra or Gold Standard. In the absence of qualifying long-lived removals, EU Allowances (EUAs) will be accepted as a proxy.
A Net Zero Pathway with the GER
The ratios of these subcontracts that make up the GER change annually to match corporate offset retirements in the previous year. As a result, the composition of the GER develops in parallel to the market and its price represents a standardisation of all available credits. For the first time, both project developers and offsetters will have a public price benchmark against which their efforts can be measured.
Exceptionally, the proportion of the CCC is on a pre-determined, net zero aligned trajectory that will ensure that the GER is comprised entirely of carbon removal credits by 2050. As you may have seen in other posts, removals are currently exceptionally expensive. By bundling them into one contract with more affordable credits, the cost of much-needed removals projects is subsidised. This provides a key pricing incentive for buyers in the voluntary carbon market.
Net Zero Markets designed this key trait of the GER with an awareness of the need to accelerate climate action by shifting the market towards investing in projects that not only avoid greenhouse gas emissions, but actively remove and durably store them. Methods with a carbon storage lifecycle of 100+ years, such as biochar, will be integral to the EU’s legally binding net-zero target that comes into force in 2050.
By offsetting residual emissions with the GER, you are not only choosing a cost-effective, simple method for tackling your business’ carbon footprint. You are also helping to drive the voluntary carbon market toward the technological carbon removal innovations that the planet needs.
In the first three months of availability, the GER will be sold by Plannet Zero with no markup. There is no better time to get involved than now.
