UK Moves to Regulate Carbon Credits Market

The UK Government is clamping down on the voluntary carbon offsetting industry in a bid to tighten up the market with stricter regulations.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) hopes its new Code of Best Practice will set a "high standard" for consumer offsetting products and help businesses and individuals "act on Co2".

The code will initially only cover offsetting products using Kyoto-compliant credits.

"When a consumer buys a tonne of carbon with the government's quality mark, they'll know they're buying a full tonne of carbon," says Environment Secretary Hilary Benn.

Benn says the offsetting industry can rise to the challenge of meeting the terms of the code "by establishing a clear, rigorous standard for voluntary projects".

Industry leaders, who have been calling on the UK Government to impose standards on the market, have welcomed the move.

"We welcome this strict code from Defra for the carbon offset markets," says Carbon Capital Markets CEO Lionel Fretz.

"We have always taken the position that offsetting should only use credits from the regulated market as it is only these that have been through such a strict process of auditing and verification to guarantee their worth."

The government has issued the final draft of the code for industry comment on accreditation procedures.

The quality mark associated with the work is currently being developed and will be ready for use when the first products are accredited later this year, says Defra.

By Ozge Ibrahim