Calyx Global Newsletter: August 2024 Edition
We invite you to the August edition of the Calyx Global Newsletter. Catch up on our recent insights into project types and developments in the carbon markets. If you would prefer this newsletter to be sent to your inbox, feel free to subscribe using the link at the bottom of our blogs page.?
A new project type on the Calyx Global Platform
We’re excited to announce our first rating of credits from a project that plugs orphan oil and gas wells to prevent methane (CH4) emissions in the U.S. These unsealed wells can become pathways for pollutants to enter the air, groundwater and soil, creating concern for local communities. Our first rating is for the “Heartland Methane Abatement and Lands Restoration – Packard & Kottke Ranch Project,” which has been issued just over 80,000 credits under ACR.?
The biggest problem with carbon credits is not measurement error
Many believe the use of advanced technologies or geospatial data to support measurements by carbon projects will improve the quality of their claims. However, for many project types, measurement is not the key “quality” issue regarding carbon accounting. Read more in our blog post to learn why.
Verified vs. self-claimed SDG contributions
Not all that glitters is gold. Current standards may paint a misleading picture of carbon projects’ social and environmental benefits, equating self-claimed contributions to the SDGs with monitored, reported and verified efforts. In this blog post, we help you distinguish verified impact from unsubstantiated claims and explain the importance of proper SDG monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV).
Updated tags on the Calyx Global Platform: Rightsizing and CORSIA
This past month, the Calyx Global platform project tags were updated, including the addition of a rightsizing tag and an update to the CORSIA tag. Since introducing rightsizing last year , we’ve worked with additional organizations to rightsize carbon credits that overstate their claims. This tag makes it easier for Calyx Global Platform users to identify which projects are eligible for this initiative. For CORSIA, the tag now better reflects the three phases of compliance periods.?
What makes a high-quality carbon credit?
It’s no secret that the quality of carbon credits varies significantly among projects. To ensure quality — and increase the positive impact of carbon markets — buyers need to know what to look for when selecting projects and purchasing carbon credits. In this blog, we discuss the current state of quality in the VCM, how carbon credit quality is defined and assessed, and what buyers can do to minimize their reputational or financial risk.
Donna Lee's interview with eco@work
Last month, Calyx Global co-founder Donna Lee was interviewed by Christiane Weihe of eco@work to discuss her journey in the carbon market space and her outlook on the trajectory of the carbon markets.
Key takeaways from the state of the VCM 2024 webinar
Calyx Global recently hosted a webinar, expanding on the insights from our report on the state of quality in the voluntary carbon market (VCM). Learn about the three key takeaways from presenters Donna Lee and Linda Rivera Macedo of Calyx Global and Margaret Morales of GreenBiz Group.
Customer Highlight: Duke University
The private research university in Durham, North Carolina, aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2024 through initiatives like the Duke Climate Commitment. Facing challenges in procuring high-quality carbon credits, Duke chose the Calyx Global Platform to enhance its credit evaluation process. The Calyx Global Platform helped Duke confidently and efficiently find quality credits in order to maintain its prestigious reputation and reinforce its commitment to climate action.?
Recent Webinars
Surprises from analyzing 500+ carbon projects ?| On-demand
Hear from carbon market experts from Morgan Stanley, BCG and Calyx Global as they discuss insights gained while evaluating carbon credit quality. The speakers review the surprising project types with higher GHG integrity, due diligence best practices and how to consider beyond carbon impacts.
State of quality in the VCM: Is it improving? ? | On-demand
In this webinar, we provide an analytical look into the market’s efforts to increase the integrity of carbon credits produced and retired from both a GHG and SDG perspective. Join our panelists Margaret Morales of GreenBiz, along with Donna Lee and Linda Rivera Macedo from Calyx Global as they share where they’re seeing progress in the market – as well as the driving forces behind the changes.??
Upcoming Events
Singapore Carbon Market & Investor Forum | 15–16 August 2024
See Duncan van Bergen speak on Plenary Five: Enhanced Integrity for Investment-Grade Carbon Markets . If you’ll be attending and would like to meet, let us know.
Carbon Unbound Europe | 11-12 September 2024
Our team will be at Carbon Unbound in London.?If you’ll be attending and would like to meet, reach out.
Climate Week NYC / IETA North America Climate Summit | 23-27 September 2024
Our team will be at Climate Week NYC and speaking at the IETA North America Climate Summit while there. If you’ll be attending and would like to meet, send us a note.
Closing thoughts?
Summertime should be sleepy and relaxing, but it seems the voluntary carbon market does not take a break! In the past month, two organizations have made announcements that stirred the market.??
First was the SBTi, who put forward the much-awaited Discussion Paper on Scope 3 Target Setting, as well as a summary of findings on the effectiveness of carbon credits. This caused quite a stir among the media and market participants. We decided to start a new series for our subscribers that we are calling “Above the Noise”. As a former electrical engineer, I associate “noise” with unwanted signals (called interference or disturbances) that detract from the “signal,” which one tries to isolate as the useful thing to relay. In this case, it is important to separate out the clamor of those who want the SBTi to endorse the use of offsetting for Scope 3 (and were therefore unsatisfied with the outputs), from what the SBTi is actually tabling: (1) new options for focusing Scope 3 action (on the most significant emissions and where companies have greater leverage) and (2) a recognition that there needs to be more independent analysis on the effectiveness of carbon credits. The SBTi will not provide draft changes to its Corporate Net-Zero Standard until the end of the year and is aiming to publish v2.0 in 2025. The snail’s pace is clearly frustrating to many market actors. In this series, we offer suggestions for what companies can do in the meantime.
The second announcement was from the ICVCM Board, who rejected all existing large-scale renewable energy methodologies. Earlier, Verra decided to exempt REDD projects from their application to the ICVCM. Together, these two project types make up around two-thirds of the VCM. These are difficult decisions that both the ICVCM and Verra have made to lift the market to higher quality – we applaud their courage in doing so.
?- Donna Lee
Calyx Global Co-founder