RBI publiceert een studie over geloofwaardige CO2-compensatie

RBI has published a position paper on what it considers as credible CO2 compensation. The paper explains that voluntary compensation by companies is only credible if it is a supplement to serious measures to achieve emission reduction within the company and its supply chain and not a replacement thereof. It is concluded that the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) offers a valuable instrument to set credible emission reduction targets. We support the view of the SBTi that carbon credits may only to be considered as an option for neutralizing residual emissions beyond the science-based emission reduction targets.

RBI welcomes the input from McKinsey[1] and the Taskforce on Scaling the Voluntary Carbon Market (TSVCM)[2] who call for an ambitious path towards Net-Zero, in which the residual emissions are compensated/neutralized within any given year.  That allows companies to make carbon neutral claims on the way to Net-Zero without being vulnerable to accusations of greenwashing. And it makes the path to net zero much more ambitious and effective from a societal point of view. Especially when the phasing out of the use of avoidance credits is the result of halting deforestation, instead of a goal in itself.

[1] Putting carbon markets to work on the path to net zero
[2] High Ambition Path to Net Zero

Vernietiging van tropisch regenwoud bleef hoog in 2021

According to data from the University of Maryland, primary tropical rainforest loss accounted for 3.75 Mha, an area comparable to the size of ​​the Netherlands (Figure 1). The loss is less than in 2020 due to the decrease in forest fires. However, the cutting down of tropical rainforest remained at the same level. This has resulted in CO2 emissions of 2.5 Gt, which is more than half of Europe’s total emissions (4 Gt in 2019, europarl.europa.eu).

Figure 1. Loss of primary tropical rainforest 2002-2021 (source: globalforestwatch.com).

The countries with the greatest loss of primary rainforest were Brazil (1.6 Mha), Democratic Republic of Congo (0.5 Mha), Bolivia (0.3 Mha), Indonesia (0.2 Mha) and Peru (0.15 Mha) . This is unchanged from 2020.  https://research.wri.org/gfr/forest-pulse

RBI verwelkomt Treevive als nieuw lid

Treevive develops sustainable forest carbon projects with multiple social and environmental benefits. Treevive offers companies and investors quality carbon credits and bankable projects in order to achieve their climate targets, including Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development Goals for lasting impact. Treevive was founded in 2021 as a subsidiary of Form International. Form International has 30 years of expertise in forestry investments and the development of forest landscape projects in tropical regions of Africa, Latin America and Asia.

CEO Liesbeth Gort: “Treevive aims to contribute to the conservation and restoration of tropical forests. We share the mission and vision of RBI and look forward to the co-operation with the partners in this network with their valuable knowledge and experience on REDD+ and their commitment to make REDD+ work”

Michel Schuurman, chairman of the REDD + Business Initiative: “We are delighted that Treevive has joined us. It is an innovative new company aimed at mobilizing substantial technical and financial support for REDD+ projects, which is essential for what we want to achieve.”

More information:  https://treevive.nl/

RBI verwelkomt Greentix als nieuw lid

Greentix is a company that sells Greencards (saving cards) and Greentix (loyalty points, each for 7 kgs of CO2 compensation) to small, medium sized and big businesses, in order for them to give these points to their customers. In this way these companies can show their sustainability-efforts to their customers. With the proceeds Greentix pays NGO’s for planting trees in combination with forest restoration and forest conservation.

CEO Robert Wolff: “Greentix aims to contribute to the conservation and restoration of tropical forests. Like in a mangrove restoration project in Surinam in co-operation with Conservation International. We share the mission and vision of RBI and look forward to the co-operation with the partners in this network with all their valuable knowledge and experience on REDD+.”

Michel Schuurman, chairman of the REDD + Business Initiative: “We are delighted that Greentix has joined us. It is an innovative start up with the potential to generate substantial financial support for REDD+ projects, which is essential for what we want to achieve.”

Meer informatie: www.greentix.org/het-concept/

REDD+ Business Meeting well attended

The meeting of the REDD+ Business Initiative (RBI) on 13 May was successful. About 30 participants discussed the importance of forest conservation for achievingthe climate goals.

They were informed about the background of REDD+, as well asthe REDD+ Business Initiative. Jeffrey Storm (Albelli) explained the motivation of companies to participate in RBI. Johan Kieft, head of the UN REDD+ program in Indonesia, explained his efforts to set up a REDD+ pilot on Kalimantan in which RBI will be involved.

Finally it was concluded that it would be good to organize a similarmeeting again this autumn, primarily aimed at politics.

 

RBI’s realized a 17,1 MtCO2 emission reduction

Since the formal start of the REDD+ Business Initiative in 2013, its members collectively purchased CO2-credits from REDD+ projects to the equivalent of 17,1 MtCO2. An increase of nearly 1 MtCO2  since 2021.

Of this amount, 2,8 MtCO2 came from the RBI’s Flagship project Tambopata-Bahuaja Biodiversity Reserve in Peru. With these purchases, our members helped not only to preserve large areas of pristine tropical forests, but also supported over 400 jobs, including the improvement of agricultural practices, opening trade channels and acquiring land rights.

The price of Nature Based Carbon Credits tripled since June 2021

The Financial Times reported that, according to S&P Global Platts, the price of a tonne of carbon on the voluntary market rose from 4 to 12 US dollars since June last year (FT 6-1-’22). This is the result of a soaring demand from companies who scramble to buy the credits in order to compensate for their emissions and fulfil their net zero emission pledges.

Interest in the market was fuelled by last year’s COP26 UN climate summit in Glasgow. Expectations are that the voluntary carbon market will grow this year into a space potentially worth billions. In order to achieve this and keep up investors’ confidence, further standardization of the largely unregulated voluntary carbon market is critical.

Glasgow big boost for forest conservation

During the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in November 2021 (COP26), many forest-related commitments were made.

  • 137 countries signed up to the Glasgow Leaders Declaration on Forests and Land use, aimed at halting deforestation by 2030, for which 19,2 mlrd private en public funding was pledged.
  • 28 countries signed up to the Forest Agriculture and Commodity Trade Road Map, aimed at establishing deforestation free supply chains.
  • 30 financial institutions (among which Robeco en NN investment) agreed to eliminate commodity driven deforestation from their investment and lending portfolios.

Next to this an agreement was reached on the Paris rulebook, including Article 6. This makes carbon markets an official and active part of the Paris Agreement and opens the way to giving value to the still standing forest and forest restoration via the compliance market and the voluntary carbon market. This is a crucial addition to the efforts to release the pressure on forests via deforestation free supply chains.

Landmark Deforestation agreement Glasgow

Two days ago (November 3rd 2021) more than 100 world leaders have promised to end and reverse deforestation by 2030 in order to curtail the second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. Large forest countries like Brazil, Congo and Indonesia have put their name to the deal as well as large consumers of deforestation-linked commodities like China, the EU and the US. To make the agreement work 10,2 billion Euro of public funding and 6,2 private funding have been pledged.

The agreement is made against the backdrop of earlier commitments on halting deforestation that failed and disturbing news on deforestation in for instance Brazil, where deforestation was the highest since 2012 last year, with an area of destroyed forest comparable to a quarter of the Netherlands. Nevertheless Brazil signed the agreement and both Indonesia and Brazil announced that they will allow the carbon market to play an important role in reducing deforestation. If this is part of a genuine national policy framework for halting deforestation and sustainable development it might turn the tide.

Sources: www.bbc.com, www.foresthints.news and www.bloomberg.com.

The expected growth of the voluntary Carbon Market visualised

According to the forecast from McKinsey, annual global demand for carbon credits could reach up to 1.5 to 2 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide by 2030 and up to 7 to 13 billion metric tons by midcentury.

This has steep implications for the voluntary carbon market: McKinsey estimates that in 2020 just a fraction of these totals were retired by buyers, at roughly 95 million metric tons.

Source: www.visualcapitalist.com

Redd+ Business Initiative

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