State of the Forest Carbon Markets 2009

State of the Forest Carbon Markets 2009

Taking Root and Branching Out

By Katherine Hamilton, Unna Chokkalingam, Maria Bendana - Ecosystem Marketplace, Ecosystem Marketplace, Ecosystem Marketplace

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This report was created to increase transparency and answer fundamental questions about the supply of forestry-based carbon credits, such as transaction volumes, credit prices, hectares influenced and tenure rights. It outlines the aggregate numbers from our survey of 61 project developers and 34 intermediaries representing 226 projects across 40 countries. This report is entirely based on information volunteered by these project developers and intermediaries. Hence, numbers presented are not completely exhaustive, and should be considered conservative.

Ecosystem Marketplace tracked projects generating credits over the past 20 years in both the voluntary and compliance markets. The voluntary category includes the Over the Counter (OTC) and Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) markets. The compliance category includes the New South Wales Greenhouse Gas Reduction Scheme (NSW GGAS), as well as the Kyoto Protocol-driven Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), Joint Implementation (JI), New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (NZ ETS) and Kyoto Assigned Amount Units (AAUs). Because we are comparing transactions across markets and standards, it is important to note that assets transacted vary considerably. For example, a temporary Certified Emissions Reduction (tCER) under the CDM may be a different asset than a Voluntary Carbon Unit (VCU) under the Voluntary Carbon Standard. However, these assets are generally referred to as carbon dioxide tonnes (tCO2).