Climate Change and Carbon Trading
Climate Change and Carbon Trading
Since the late 1990s when the Kyoto Protocol first established carbon trading as a vehicle for reducing global greenhouse gas emissions, NUMARK has been a facilitator of international carbon credit transactions capitalizing on the firm’s extensive experience in the climate change technical and policy areas. Following the Paris agreement, carbon credits continue to be the mechanism for limiting or removing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and countries have made specific pledges known as National Determined Contributions (NDC). There are broadly, two markets for carbon credits: Compliance carbon markets and Voluntary Carbon Markets (VCM). For a project to generate carbon credits, it needs to demonstrate that the achieved emission reductions or CO2 removals are real, measurable, permanent, additional, independently verified, and unique. For VCMs, several third-party independent standards review and certify projects across the world. If a project meets the criteria, as specified by independent standards such as Gold Standard, American carbon registry and VCS, credits can be issued. These organizations consider a project’s qualifying attributes, such as standard, project type, project size, location, community involvement, and other co-benefits.
NUMARK provides technical assistance for all transaction steps, including technical support during the project registration and monitoring and verification stages. NUMARK also offers technical assistance for the design and implementation of the low-carbon development strategies.
Global Network for International Transactions
NUMARK has longstanding business relationships with electric utilities worldwide and other industry sectors interested in reducing their carbon footprint through international offsets. We connect these companies with carbon credit project developers within our multinational network and support complex negotiations until an Emissions Reduction Purchase Agreement (ERPA) is successfully concluded, projects are implemented, and credits are transferred.
An Asset for Credit Buyers and Sellers
NUMARK has years of experience in the different stages of project development, from the assessment of potential projects to the effective transfer of credits between buyers and sellers. We offer a range of services to support credit buyers—screening projects, evaluating project risk and the potential emissions reductions, and negotiating ERPAs. For project developers, NUMARK introduces projects to investors or credit buyers, reviews sale options to maximize the credit price, drafts sale contracts and manages the final transfer of credits. As a critical part of any successful transaction, we also design innovative financing options to facilitate conclusion of ERPAs between sellers and buyers.
In-depth Research and Tailored Reporting
Generating customized reports for clients, NUMARK regularly tracks and summarizes changes in U.S. energy and climate policy, and industry initiatives for controlling greenhouse gas emissions. We reinforce our studies with interviews of key government and industrial representatives from the energy and environmental sectors. Internationally, we monitor ongoing U.N. climate change negotiations and trends in emissions trading. We facilitate our research through direct participation in the major carbon forums, and through well established relationships with several key climate change stakeholders.
