Carbon offsets : the U.S. voluntary market is growing but quality assurance poses challenges for market participants : report to Congressional requesters /

Carbon offsets--reductions of greenhouse gas emissions from an activity in one place to compensate for emissions elsewhere--are a way to address climate change by paying someone else to reduce emissions. To be credible, an offset must be additional--it must reduce emissions below the quantity emitte...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Stephenson, John B.
Corporate Authors:	ProQuest (Firm), United States. Government Accountability Office
Format:	Government Document eBook
Language:	English
Published:	[Washington, D.C.] : U.S. Govt. Accountability Office, [2008]
Series:	U.S. Congressional Research.
Subjects:	Emissions trading > United States > Evaluation. Carbon sequestration > United States > Measurement. Carbon dioxide sinks > United States > Measurement. Carbon dioxide mitigation > United States. Greenhouse gas mitigation > United States. Climatic changes > Risk management > United States. Electronic books.
Online Access:	Connect to the full text of this electronic book

Description
Summary:	Carbon offsets--reductions of greenhouse gas emissions from an activity in one place to compensate for emissions elsewhere--are a way to address climate change by paying someone else to reduce emissions. To be credible, an offset must be additional--it must reduce emissions below the quantity emitted in a business-as-usual scenario--among other criteria. Assessing credibility is inherently challenging because it is difficult to make business-as-usual projections. Outside the U.S., offsets may be purchased on compliance markets to meet requirements to reduce emissions. In the U.S., there are no federal requirements and offsets may be purchased in the voluntary market. GAO was asked to examine (1) the scope of the U.S. voluntary carbon offset market, including the role of the federal government; (2) the extent to which mechanisms for ensuring the credibility of offsets are available and used and what, if any, related information is shared with consumers; and (3) trade-offs associated with increased oversight of the U.S. market and including offsets in climate change mitigation policies. This report is based on analysis of literature and data, interviews with stakeholders, and GAO's purchase of offsets.
Item Description:	Record is based on bibliographic data in ProQuest U.S. Congressional Research Digital Collection. Reuse except for individual research requires license from ProQuest, LLC. Electronic resource.
Physical Description:	1 online resource.