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The report analyzes the landscape of carbon offsets, contrasting mandatory compliance mechanisms like the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation (JI) with voluntary standards and retail providers. It evaluates key design elements including project eligibility, additionality testing, and quantification protocols, while highlighting risks to environmental integrity such as leakage and non-permanence.

The paper concludes that linking the EU ETS with a US scheme based on the Lieberman-Warner proposal is unlikely to be acceptable to the EU due to significant design differences. The Lieberman-Warner scheme is characterized as systematically less stringent, featuring weaker caps, lower auctioning levels, and extensive cost-containment measures. Such a link would likely result in the EU ceding control over its allowance prices and emissions implications to the US, while also undermining the EU's policy of excluding carbon sink credits.

The document examines the role of land-based offsets in emissions trading systems across the EU, Australia, Canada, the US, and New Zealand, as well as voluntary standards. It identifies that differences in the stringency of additionality and the management of carbon reversibility (non-permanence) are primary obstacles to linking these systems. While most schemes use offset mechanisms, New Zealand's approach of including deforestation within the cap is highlighted as a way to bypass additionality and reversibility issues. The paper concludes that harmonizing the generation of forestry offsets is essential for successful future linkage.

The document argues that REDD is a cost-effective method for reducing heat-trapping emissions, noting that $5 billion annually could protect nearly 20% of tropical forests at risk, while $20 billion could protect about half. It identifies opportunity costs as the largest expense and highlights that global models provide more conservative, comprehensive cost estimates than regional studies. Total implementation, administrative, and transaction costs are estimated at nearly $1 per ton of reductions, with separate stabilization costs estimated at $630 million per year for the ten most critical countries to prevent international leakage.

The report identifies that the creation of expiring units (tCERs and lCERs) and complex methodologies have severely diminished investment confidence in A/R CDM projects, leading developers to prefer voluntary markets. It recommends replacing expiring units with a risk-buffer system, simplifying methodologies, and potentially extending national accounting systems (Article 3.3) to non-Annex I countries to increase mitigation potential, which is estimated at 10,000 MtCO2 per year by 2030 in developing countries.

This research paper evaluates three prominent air travel emissions calculators, focusing on their handling of aircraft models, flight profiles, cargo, occupancy rates, and seat classes. The authors find that results vary significantly, with economy seat emissions differing by a factor of 1.7 between calculators. TRX Travel Analytics is rated as the highest quality due to its use of extensive, regularly updated datasets and carrier-specific information. The paper highlights that while specificity in aircraft models and seat classes can improve accuracy, uncertainties regarding engine types, maintenance, and actual flight behavior remain challenges for all tools.

The report analyzes Australian government support for biofuels, finding that total transfers reached approximately A$ 95 million in 2006–07. It argues that the industry is heavily subsidized compared to other sectors, with effective rates of assistance often exceeding 100%. The authors conclude that these subsidies are not cost-effective for reducing greenhouse gas emissions or displacing fossil fuels, as the cost per tonne of CO2-equivalent avoided is significantly higher than purchasing carbon offsets on international exchanges.

The report analyzes the voluntary carbon market, contrasting it with compliance markets and evaluating ten specific offset standards. It identifies structural flaws in project-based offsetting, such as the difficulty of proving additionality and inherent conflicts of interest where auditors are paid by project developers. The authors argue that while the voluntary market fosters innovation and participation, it requires more rigorous, transparent standards to ensure environmental integrity and the delivery of sustainable development co-benefits.

Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) demands that industrialized countries reduce emissions by at least 40% by 2020 and provide large-scale financial transfers to developing nations based on climate debt. The organization rejects carbon offsetting, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and the inclusion of forests in carbon markets, arguing that such mechanisms undermine real emission cuts and threaten indigenous land rights. FoEI advocates for the conservation of old-growth forests, the protection of climate refugees, and the removal of the World Bank from climate financing roles due to its undemocratic structure and continued investment in fossil fuels.

The report analyzes the extensive subsidy framework for biofuels in the EU, estimating total transfers at approximately €3.7 billion in 2006. It identifies excise tax exemptions as the primary support mechanism and argues that current subsidies for first-generation biofuels are an expensive and inefficient way to reduce CO2 emissions compared to purchasing carbon offsets. The authors recommend eliminating ethanol tariffs, resisting new blending mandates, and shifting focus toward second-generation biofuels.

The report finds that U.S. government support for biofuels is extensive and inefficient, with total subsidies projected to exceed $92 billion between 2006 and 2012. The largest contributors are volumetric excise tax credits and market price supports driven by renewable fuel mandates. The analysis argues that these subsidies are an expensive way to achieve energy security and greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions, noting that the cost per tonne of CO2-equivalent displaced is significantly higher than purchasing carbon offsets on climate exchanges. The report warns that pending legislation, such as the Renewable Fuels Standard, could further increase these costs, potentially exceeding $130 billion per year by 2030.

The World Resources Institute (WRI) reported 'net' CO2 emissions of 1,031 metric tons in 2004 and 978 metric tons in 2005, representing a 3% and 8% decrease respectively from its 2000 base year. To achieve its 'net zero' goal, WRI utilizes a combination of internal efficiency measures, the purchase of renewable energy certificates (RECs), and investments in GHG offsets through the Chicago Climate Exchange. The organization also updated its accounting methodology to exclude paper emissions from its primary goal due to calculation uncertainties, though it continues to track them separately. Beyond its own footprint, WRI manages several multi-stakeholder partnerships, including the GHG Protocol and Climate Northeast, to promote corporate greenhouse gas management.

The report examines how the Center for Human Rights and Environment (CEDHA) and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) adapted the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Guidelines, which were designed for businesses, for use in the non-profit sector. Both organizations found that while the Guidelines provided a valuable framework for establishing sustainability baselines and increasing staff awareness, they faced challenges with indicators tailored to resource-heavy industries and difficulties in collecting data within shared office spaces. The authors recommend that the GRI develop a specific 'CSO sector supplement' or 'service sector supplement' to better support non-profit reporting.

WRI's fiscal year 2002 CO2 emissions were 1,306 metric tons, representing a 3.5% reduction from 2001. The primary emission sources were purchased electricity (42%) and air travel (40%). While air travel emissions have decreased to 1% below 2000 levels, electricity emissions have risen 24% since 2000, largely due to increased cooling requirements from another tenant in WRI's non-separately metered building. WRI has adjusted historical data using improved methodologies and now holds a surplus of carbon offsets. To maintain its commitment, WRI is exploring new ways to fund offsets and has published the 'Working 9 to 5 on Climate Change' guide to help other organizations reduce their footprints.

The document analyzes the carbon footprint of a typical American single-family home, which it estimates emits 26,028 lbs of CO2 annually. It proposes a tiered strategy of no-cost, low-cost, and long-term investments—such as improving the building envelope, upgrading appliances, and purchasing green power—to reduce these emissions. The author argues that a combination of efficiency retrofits, solar water heating, and carbon offsets can lead a household to net zero emissions, potentially reducing emissions by 68% before applying offsets.

The document argues that proactive action on climate change can reduce costs, mitigate risks, and create competitive advantages. It outlines short-term strategies like emission tracking and 'no-regrets' energy efficiency, and long-term investments in clean technology and carbon trading. It emphasizes 'whole-systems thinking' to achieve radical resource efficiency and provides case studies of companies like BP, Dow, and Interface that have integrated sustainability into their business models.

The report examines how Costa Rica and El Salvador are positioning themselves to benefit from emerging markets for environmental services. Costa Rica is highlighted as a leader in carbon trading through the Kyoto Protocol's Joint Implementation and a robust national payment system for environmental services (PSA). El Salvador's case focuses on 'shade coffee' as a critical substitute for natural forests, providing essential water regulation, biodiversity habitats for migratory birds, and potential carbon sinks, though it faces severe land degradation and institutional weaknesses.

The AES Corporation partnered with the World Resources Institute and CARE to fund a reforestation project in Guatemala to offset carbon dioxide emissions from its Thames power plant. The project aimed to plant 52 million trees over ten years to sequester 19 million tons of carbon, leveraging a $2 million AES grant into $14.5 million of total funding. While the initiative received mixed press and investor reactions, it aligned with the company's corporate value of social responsibility. Subsequently, AES established a Sustainability Task Force in 1991, which concluded that the company should hedge its portfolio by developing natural gas projects alongside coal to address long-term economic and environmental sustainability.

The paper asserts that most global warming can be abated at negative net cost by replacing inefficient resource use with advanced technologies in energy, farming, and forestry. It details specific potentials for saving electricity and oil, argues for a 'best buys first' investment strategy to avoid opportunity costs, and proposes market-based implementation techniques such as 'feebates' and 'negawatts'. The authors emphasize that these measures support global equity and development, particularly in the USSR and developing nations, while providing significant co-benefits in environmental protection and security.

The report details seven greenwashing tactics used by the fossil fuel industry: paltering, carbon offset deception, aspirational claims (petro-science fiction), vague buzzwords, double dipping, nature rinsing, and outright lies. It argues that these practices delay climate action and policy changes. The document provides examples of regulatory actions in the UK, EU, and Norway, and calls for a comprehensive ban on fossil fuel advertising in Canada, similar to the restrictions placed on the tobacco industry.