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The Peninsula
Doha, Qatar: Carbon credits issued by the Doha-based Global Carbon Council (GCC) follow a strict programme with accreditation from the United Nations (UN) Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) programme and the International Carbon Reduction and Offsetting Accreditation (ICROA).
The GCC, a part of the Gulf Organisation for Research and Development (GORD), is the Middle East and North Africa's (MENA) first voluntary carbon market with international reach. It facilitates global stakeholders in implementing climate actions through a voluntary carbon offsetting programme and is the only CORSIA-accredited international programme in the Global South.
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Speaking to the media during a recent roundtable at the Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP), the COO at GCC, Kishor Rajhansa, said when the GCC certifies an entity as carbon neutral, it has followed best practices and strives to prevent double accounting of the offset.
“A good programme has to be behind the carbon credit issuance, and the organisation making carbon neutrality claim should do their part most before going on the route of carbon credit,” Rajhansa said, adding that GCC issues one carbon credit to one ton of carbon dioxide reduction, which is the standard practice.
Governments and organisations are encouraged to embrace carbon offsetting and the voluntary carbon market to avoid worsening the effects of climate change and meet the Paris Climate Agreement COO at GCC goals of averting a further rise in temperatures beyond 1.5 degrees.
The carbon market links available carbon credits with the needs of organisations and investors who seek to decrease their carbon footprint. Carbon credits, created by offsetting, can be traded, representing the right to emit one metric tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2) or an equivalent amount of other greenhouse gases (GHG). These credits can then be bought and sold on the voluntary carbon market.
However, there have been arguments that the market is rife with low-quality carbon projects that do not deliver on climate benefits, pose serious negative consequences for biodiversity and human rights, and sometimes double accounting.
Rajhansa said that to achieve carbon neutrality, organisations need to measure their carbon footprints and reduce as much as possible until it becomes exorbitantly costly for the organisation to reduce it further.
He added that while carbon offsets bring the economics of carbon neutrality on the ground because if it becomes costly to claim carbon neutrality when organisations buy credits, they must ensure that another entity does not use the same credits to claim carbon neutrality – discouraging double accounting of the carbon offset.
“So when double accounting comes into the picture, then questions are raised about the carbon credits process,” Rajhansa added.
Head of Technology and Innovation, GORD Institute Dr. Ammar Elhourweires added that for researchers, proposing technologies that have environmental benefits or offset carbon emissions are attractive to the carbon market.
“With the carbon markets, what that brings you is a finance facility. Suppose your product, project or technology has some capability to mitigate, reduce or completely offset carbon emissions. In that case, you can get the carbon credits and incorporate them into your business model, making it more attractive and economically viable. So many technologies which are lingering and aren't able to be marketed because they're not feasible economically become more attractive with this approach.”