ICROA is a not-for-profit alliance of leading carbon reduction and offset companies.

FAQ

What is ICROA?

ICROA is a not-for-profit alliance of leading carbon reduction and offset providers. It provides leadership and a unified voice advocating for rigorous industry standards. ICROA members support a reduce-and- offset approach to carbon management, and they all comply with the ICROA Code of Best Practice.

ICROA members currently serve thousands of businesses and hundreds of thousands of individuals.

What type of organisation is ICROA?

It is a membership-based organisation, governed by an Executive Committee made up of representatives from the member companies. It is primarily funded by membership fees.

Who founded ICROA?

The founding members are:

  • Carbon Clear
  • The CarbonNeutral Company
  • ClimateCare
  • Climate Friendly
  • co2balance
  • Native Energy
  • targetneutral
  • TerraPass

These organisations identified a clear need to provide a credible and unified voice for scientifically rigorous, verifiable, and effective solutions to climate change. The founding members sought to promote best-practice in the voluntary carbon market by increasing ICROA's membership.

Why was ICROA's creation necessary?

Because of the urgency of climate change and the importance of making sure that proposed solutions are effective, ICROA has been established to:

  • Provide industry leadership in the expanding voluntary carbon market
  • Promote the development of sound and significant carbon reduction policies and strategies
  • Support the rigorous standards that have been set for offsets, to ensure that carbon reductions are real, unique, additional, permanent, and verifiable.

What are ICROA's objectives?

ICROA will:

  • Support rigorous standards for the international voluntary carbon market.
  • Establish best practice, through the promotion of the ICROA Code of Best Practice and adherence to that Code among its members
  • Provide a credible industry voice on carbon reduction and offset policies, strategies, products, and services to governments, non-governmental organisations, policy-makers, businesses, and the media

What are the key elements of best practice to which ICROA members will adhere?

  • Measure carbon footprints according to accepted international standards
  • Set emissions reduction targets based on scientific assessments
  • Assess and implement both internal and external emissions reduction opportunities, the "reduce-and- offset" approach
  • Use credible offset projects, where offsetting is appropriate to meet emissions reduction targets
  • Be transparent in communicating emissions reduction strategies and practices
  • Use offsets that meet the following principles: Real, Measurable, Permanent, Additional, Independently verified, and Unique
  • Use offset standards that have independent registries, so that credits can be tracked from origination to retirement;
  • Use offsets certified under the Clean Development Mechanism, Joint Implementation, the Climate Action Reserve, Gold Standard and the Voluntary Carbon Standard.
  • Submit a publicly available annual report demonstrating compliance with the ICROA Code

Note: For the full text of the " ICROA Code of Best Practice" go to www.icroa.org/policy

How is the ICROA Code of Best Practice different from an offset standard?

The ICROA Code provides guidance on the ways carbon reduction and offset providers should go about their business. The ICROA Code sets the best practice benchmark for the industry. The ICROA Code highlights five offset standards/certification schemes for carbon reductions bought as offsets that ICROA consider to be high quality. These are CDM, JI, the Climate Action Reserve, the Gold Standard, and the Voluntary Carbon Standard. ICROA members may also supply participants of the US EPA Climate Leaders programme with Climate Leaders offsets. The ICROA Code also has requirements for how members provide their services for carbon footprinting and green house gas reduction advice.

How is the ICROA Code of Best Practice different from the DECC Quality Assurance Scheme and other Government initiatives?

The ICROA Code was developed by an international industry alliance to set the best practice benchmark for carbon management. Government initiatives such as the DECC Quality Assurance Scheme in the UK generally permit the use of CERS and other compliance market instruments. The ICROA Code of Best Practice recognises high quality compliance and high quality voluntary offset standards which have been developed by expert and respected independent organisations. ICROA's view is that high quality voluntary offset standards (such as those permitted by the ICROA Code of Best Practice) which have been developed for use in the voluntary carbon market are as robust as CERs. High quality voluntary offset standards are more innovative, more cost effective and provide invaluable co-benefits. High quality voluntary offset standards are often much more appropriate for the needs of business and consumer customers who use the voluntary carbon market. For further information on the benefits of the high quality voluntary offset standards permitted by the ICROA Code, please see below.

Membership

Who are the members of ICROA?

Currently they are, in alphabetical order:

  • Carbon Clear
  • The CarbonNeutral Company
  • ClimaCount
  • ClimateCare
  • Climate Friendly
  • Climate Neutral Group
  • co2balance
  • Firstclimate
  • NativeEnergy
  • targetneutral
  • TerraPass

What countries do they cover?

ICROA is international and covers all regions.

Are you accepting new members?

Yes, we are actively looking for new members who are interested in promoting best practice in the voluntary carbon market and committing to the principles of ICROA.

The benefits of joining ICROA include:

  • The public relations value of demonstrating to your stakeholders that your organisation is a high quality and transparent carbon reduction and offset provider that adheres to the industry's leading Code of Best Practice
  • The ability to influence policy related to voluntary carbon markets and to respond with other carbon reduction and offset providers, by speaking with a unified and respected voice, to Governments, NGOS and other stakeholders

Who can join?

Any carbon reduction and offset provider that fits the ICROA eligibility criteria, that is willing to commit to ICROA's Code of Best Practice, and pay the membership fee.

What are the ICROA Membership Eligibility Criteria?

  • Members have been in business and actively trading carbon offsets for at least one full year.
  • Members offer services to estimate carbon footprints, identify and implement internal emission reduction opportunities and offset emissions.
  • Members actively sell a service to retire/cancel ICROA Code compliant emissions reductions on behalf of businesses and/or individuals for the purpose of voluntarily offsetting their carbon emissions.
  • Members are committed to achieving large absolute reductions across their client base.
  • Members have in place a verifiable quality management system.
  • The minimum volume sold or retired annually by members must be at least 20,000 tonnes of CO2e.
  • The members' minimum financial turnover must be $100,000 or the local currency equivalent.
  • Members must disclose to the ICROA Secretariat any significant ongoing legal claims pertaining to their organisation.

How will you ensure that member companies comply with the ICROA Code of Best Practice?

In becoming an ICROA member, every member organisation agrees to file an annual report demonstrating their compliance with the Code of Best Practice, a compilation of which will be made publicly available on the ICROA website.

Are all the members for-profit businesses?

No. Most are, but ICROA has one non-profit member (targetneutral) and ICROA is a non-profit organisation.

How can new members join?

They should contact Caroline Spencer at.the ICROA Secretariat on cspencer@icroa.org to receive further information on ICROA membership, the requirements of the ICROA Code of Best Practice and the fee payment details. Any interested parties will have to provide background information on their products and services.

Carbon Management

What do you mean by "carbon management"?

As described by ICROA's Code of Best Practice, carbon management is a comprehensive approach to assessing and reducing an organisation's carbon footprint. Comprehensive carbon management requires:

  • Measuring carbon footprints according to accepted international standards
  • Setting emissions reduction targets based on scientific assessments
  • Reducing net CO2 emissions by
    • Achieving reductions within the organisation
    • Using real, permanent, and additional offsets

Credible Offsets

What is the purpose of offsets?

Offsets fund effective global reductions in emissions that would otherwise not occur. They do so by channeling financial support to projects that can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Consequently, offsets provide an economic way for individuals and businesses to support carbon reductions in addition to those that can be accomplished by achieving improved carbon efficiency in internal operations.

Explain how offsets fit into a company's strategy to reduce its GHG footprint.

After a company has measured its GHG footprint and determined its major sources of emissions, it will determine where it can reduce emissions in its daily operations. Improving energy efficiency is a simple example. Cutting back on business travel and relying on video conferencing may be another. Such actions represent the "reduce" portion of the "reduce and offset" approach.

No company is going to be able to eliminate its GHG emissions entirely. Many companies do, however, wish to support reductions beyond those they can achieve immediately through changes in the way the business operates. This is where offsets come into play. A company may wish to offset all of the emissions resulting from business travel. By purchasing offsets, the company can compensate for those emissions by purchasing emissions reductions achieved elsewhere through an offset project.

It is important to remember that offset projects fund reductions in GHG emissions that would not have happened without the opportunity to receive the carbon finance. The company buying the offsets can, in effect, compensate for a portion of its footprint using these "offsetting" reductions.

What kinds of projects provide the credible offsets that ICROA's members are selling?

ICROA supports offsets certified under the Clean Development Mechanism, Joint Implementation, the Climate Action Reserve, Gold Standard, and Voluntary Carbon Standard. These are widely recognised by experts and policy makers as the most rigorous standards for carbon offsets. Their criteria ensure that offsets developed under these standards are real, additional, permanent, and verified.

ICROA's members sell offsets from a variety of GHG-reducing activities, including:

  • The development of renewable energy projects
  • The capture and destruction of landfill and agricultural methane
  • Forestry projects
  • Energy-efficiency projects
  • Fuel switching: replacing fossil fuels or non-sustainable biomass with renewable energy

Where are the offset projects located?

ICROA members sell offsets from projects located around the globe. In many cases, the carbon offset project provides additional social benefits, like the reduction of indoor-air pollution or the preservation or expansion of important habitat.

Why have certain high quality voluntary offset standards been selected for use by ICROA members?

Meeting key criteria: Climate Action Reserve (CAR), Gold Standard, Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) were selected for inclusion in the ICROA Code of Best Practice, because they meet the key criteria that ICROA has established for offset credits, i.e. offsets validated and verified under CAR, Gold Standard and VCS are real, measurable, unique, independently verified, permanent, and additional. CAR, Gold Standard and VCS all have independent, external registries, which allow the offset credits to be tracked, using their serial numbers, from origination to retirement. For credits that use performance based additionality, ICROA members must also ensure that the additionality provisions of the ICROA Code of Best Practice are met.

Working in conjunction: ICROA views CAR, Gold Standard and VCS, as working in conjunction with each other, rather than in competition. CAR, Gold Standard and the VCS have different key benefits, which is why they have been selected for inclusion in the ICROA Code of Best Practice. It depends on the location and the nature of the offset project, as to whether implementing CAR, Gold Standard, Voluntary Carbon Standard is more appropriate.

How are offset standards selected for inclusion in the ICROA Code?

New offset standards may be proposed at any time by any ICROA member for potential inclusion in the ICROA Code. New standards are accepted into the ICROA Code if they meet the Offset Standard Review Criteria and the ICROA Executive Committee votes to accept the new standard. ICROA developed the Offset Standard Review Criteria using the principles laid out in the ICROA Code of Best Practice. The key principles in the ICROA Code of Best Practice are that offsets validated and verified by permitted by offset standards must be: Real, Measurable, Permanent, Independently Verified, Additional and Unique. The Offset Standard Review Criteria are divided into essential and discretionary criteria. A standard must meet the essential criteria, to be included in the ICROA Code of Best Practice and should meet the discretionary criteria. For full text on the ICROA Offset Standard Review Criteria, please visit www.icroa.org/policy

What does ICROA mean when it says "real" or "credible" offsets?

ICROA members will use only offsets that meet the following principles broadly recognised by policy leaders in carbon management:

The Value of the Voluntary Carbon Market

What is the role of the voluntary carbon market, given the existence of formal GHG regulation in the EU and increasingly in the US and Australia?

There are a number of compelling reasons to encourage voluntary carbon reduction and offset markets.

  1. The carbon market uses market mechanisms to direct investment wherever in the world it can significantly reduce GHG most cost effectively emissions. The international carbon market, which transcends national boundaries, is a crucial tool to achieve global GHG reductions. This market has been an essential element in the international response to climate change. The voluntary market complements the compliance market for GHG, increasing the overall effectiveness of the market approach.
  2. Individuals and many businesses are not regulated (and will not be) under GHG protocols. The voluntary market provides a powerful vehicle for those who want to do something on their own.
  3. The voluntary market is fostering innovation in the development of standards and products. This market is more adaptable than the regulated, with products and services being designed to meet the needs of individuals or particular groups of customers.
  4. The voluntary market provides essential choice on project type which is just not possible in the compliance carbon market, in 2008 over 70% of compliance market projects were located in one country.
  5. Voluntary market offset projects are more likely to encourage the promotion of sustainable development, the alleviation of poverty and, in some cases, the restoration of critical ecosystems and habitat. Offset projects located in the global South, where the weight of future emissions are predicted to originate, also provide the communities who are most vulnerable to the effects of climate change with direct access to sustainability benefits and technology for the mitigation of carbon emissions.
  6. Even if mandated reductions are reached, they will result in only a modest reduction in emissions in regulated countries, while countries outside of the regulated systems are increasing their emissions substantially. This situation leaves a huge discrepancy between the reductions likely to be delivered by regulation and scientific estimates of the reductions required to protect our climate. The voluntary carbon market is important vital in helping to make up for this shortfall and achieving reductions below those driven by regulation.
  7. For those who believe it is necessary to bring about greater reductions in GHG than are being achieved through regulation, the voluntary carbon market provides an effective way to accomplish that objective.

How large is the voluntary carbon market?

According to the recent Fortifying the Foundation: State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets 2009 (Ecosystems Market Place and New Carbon Finance), in 2008, 54.0 million tonnes of co2e were traded in the OTC voluntary carbon market, with a market value of US$396.7 million. 12.4 million tonnes of co2e were directly retired.

Issues

What is ICROA's position on RFI?

ICROA is committed to reaching a consensus on Radiative Forcing Index (RFI), a consensus that accurately reflects scientific opinion on this contentious issue. RFI is the factor used to multiply the carbon emissions generated by a flight in order to account for a range of factors that can increase the footprint of a flight. These factors include, accounting for non-CO2 gases generated by the combustion of aviation fuel (i.e sulphur and methane), flying through certain types of clouds, and even flying at night. ICROA acknowledges that there are currently different approaches to calculating air travel emissions, particularly regarding the RFI factor. Once sufficient consensus within the scientific community becomes more apparent, ICROA will develop a more numerically specific consensus on RFI, or the most appropriate metric, through an international, collaborative and transparent process. In the interim, ICROA will base its approach to RFI on the principle of transparency. ICROA members must publically disclose what RFI they apply and their rationale for applying that RFI. ICROA will also play an educational role on RFI.

What is ICROA's position on additionality?

Additionality is a fundamental criterion for any offset project. ICROA members support the offset standards included in the ICROA Code (CDM, JI, the Climate Action Reserve, Gold Standard, and Voluntary Carbon Standard.) as the best available tools for assessing additionality. ICROA members are committed to interpreting and using these tools in good faith and require that all projects' successful implementation and operation are dependent on the availability of carbon finance. This is reflected in the ICROA Code of Best Practice. For offset credits that use performance based additionality, ICROA members must also ensure that the additionality provisions of the ICROA Code of Best Practice are met.