Glossary

Key Updates in Verra’s VCS Standard Version 4.5

Key Updates in Verra’s VCS Standard Version 4.5

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Key Updates in Verra’s VCS Standard Version 4.5

by: Andrew Primo | October 11, 2023

Key Updates in Verra’s VCS Standard Version 4.5 | ClimeCo

On August 29, 2023, Verra, a Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) registry, released a major update to its Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) program, changing and expanding a host of program aspects, including project risk assessment, credit labeling, stakeholder engagement requirements, social and environmental safeguards, and methodology development. The update represents the most considerable change to the VCS program in several years. As the largest VCM registry, developments at Verra can significantly impact the broader market, particularly for nature-based climate projects like reforestation and avoided deforestation.

Much of the update was driven by Verra’s efforts to align its VCS program with the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market’s (ICVCM) Core Carbon Principle (CCP) Assessment Framework, published earlier this year to set standards for credit quality and reinforce trust in the market.

Verra has published a list of 54 updates in v4.5 of the VCS Program. We have summarized three of the most significant updates below:

  • Agriculture, forestry, and other land-use (AFOLU) projects will have a higher average risk profile: Verra has updated its AFOLU Non-Permanence Risk Tool for the first time since 2019, including new project risk analyses based on projected future impacts from climate change, including sea level rise, fire, extreme weather, and pest and disease outbreaks. AFOLU projects will also need to assess risks related to host nations’ climate policy and history of political intervention in land or resource use, and all AFOLU projects will be required to have an adaptive management plan. Because the outcome of the tool’s risk analyses determines the number of credits that a project must contribute to the AFOLU buffer pool—a kind of insurance policy for projects that suffer loss of carbon stocks or access to project lands—many projects are likely to see a rise of buffer pool contributions. The permanence of carbon stocks in AFOLU projects must now be monitored for at least 40 years rather than the 30 years required previously.

  • All projects will require more analysis of project-related environmental, social, and economic risks, with a greater emphasis on stakeholder engagement for all projects: The “No Net Harm” clause in the VCS Standard has been significantly clarified and expanded. Beginning in March 2024, project proponents must formally analyze potential risks to multiple groups, including women and girls, children, minorities, and marginalized groups. Projects must also ensure compliance with a list of other specific social and environmental safeguards based on CCP requirements, including respecting human rights, providing equal pay for equal work, prohibiting forced and child labor, preventing relocation and economic displacement, and having no negative impacts on ecosystems.

    Verra has also expanded stakeholder engagement requirements to include stakeholder identification, risk analysis, and grievance redress procedure implementation for all projects. The new stakeholder engagement rules also require project proponents to obtain free, prior, and informed consent from all stakeholders to participate in the stakeholder engagement process.

  • Verified Carbon Units (VCUs) will be labeled based on whether they are greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions (avoided emissions) or carbon dioxide removals, as well as if they are compliant with Paris Agreement Article 6 accounting requirements: The VCS Program will require new projects and methodologies to quantify GHG reductions and carbon dioxide removals separately. VCUs issued by these projects will be labeled as either “reductions”—where GHG emissions are reduced or avoided—or “removals”—where carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere and stored in long-term carbon stocks (e.g., stable forests or geologic sequestration).

Verra also published its first Paris Agreement Article 6 Label Guidance as part of the update, detailing which credits are eligible for use against a country’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to Paris Agreement goals. While the reduction and removal labeling system will only go into effect for projects listed after March 1, 2024, the Article 6 labeling conventions are active immediately.

Verra hosted a series of webinars from September 12-28, reviewing different aspects of the VCS Program update. These webinars will be made available to the public on Verra’s Events site.

 

 
About Verra’s Verified Carbon Standard

Verra is a nonprofit organization that operates standards in environmental and social markets, including a leading carbon crediting program, the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program. The VCS Program drives finance toward activities that reduce and remove emissions, improve livelihoods, and protect nature. VCS projects have reduced or removed more than one billion tons of carbon and other GHG emissions from the atmosphere. The VCS Program is a critical and evolving component in the ongoing effort to protect our shared environment. Learn more by visiting here.

About ClimeCo

ClimeCo is a respected global advisor, transaction facilitator, trader, and developer of environmental commodity market products and related solutions. We specialize in voluntary carbon, regulated carbon, renewable energy credits, plastics credits, and regional criteria pollutant trading programs. Complimenting these programs is a team of professionals skilled in providing sustainability program management solutions and developing and financing of GHG abatement and mitigation systems.

Contact us at +1 484.415.0501, info@climeco.com, or through our website climeco.com to learn more. Be sure to follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter using our handle, @ClimeCo.

The Importance of Protecting & Restoring Peatlands

The Importance of Protecting & Restoring Peatlands

The Importance of Protecting & Restoring Peatlands


by: Jay Reese | July 26
, 2023


For generations, people have viewed peatlands and wetlands as unproductive, waterlogged areas that could be altered or drained for more productive uses, such as cropping or construction. Phrases like ‘bogged down in the details’ or ‘a mire of a situation’ reflect the historical negative connotations of these habitats. While these ecosystems may not seem productive from an anthropogenic lens, peatlands store twice as much carbon as all the forests in the world combined, [1] despite only accounting for three percent of the earth’s landmass. Preserving and protecting these essential ecosystems is crucial to managing carbon emissions and achieving sustainability goals. 

Partially degraded peatlands may have large pits dug from peat harvesting. These pits fill with water and become small ponds.

Introduction to Peatlands 

Peatlands are a type of acidic wetland ecosystem in which the soil is so waterlogged that anaerobic conditions occur. This inhibits the decomposition of dead plant matter, causing an accumulation of peat, which is made up of partially decayed plant matter and is rich in carbon. Several different types of peatlands are often categorized by their water sources, including but not limited to moors, bogs, fens, swamp forests, marshes, and even permafrost tundra.

These ecosystems can be found across the planet, from lowland coastal areas to high-elevation mountainous regions and in every climatic zone [2]. Due to its high carbon content, peat has a variety of uses, including fuel, substrates for planting, and filtration media for industrial processes. Because of its multiple benefits in human society, peat bogs are overexploited, as the peat harvests much faster than it naturally regenerates. Peatland degradation also occurs when the land is drained by artificial means to be used for grazing, agriculture, or development. Because of this, 15 percent of the world’s peatlands have been fully drained, and even more have been subject to peat harvesting and partial drainage [3].

When peatlands are drained, they can no longer fulfill their role as a carbon sink and instead become a source of CO2 emissions. For example, when drained, tropical peatlands emit an average of 55 metric tons of CO2 per hectare per year [4]. Specifically, when the organic peat material mixes with oxygen (a result of draining), its decomposition rate accelerates tremendously, releasing large quantities of CO2 and contributing to global warming. Drained peatlands also become more susceptible to wildfires, highly emissive events that can devastate the ecosystem and environment. For example, in Indonesia in 2015, over half of wildfires occurred in degraded peatlands. Peak carbon emissions from these fires exceeded the daily rate for the entire United States economy [5]. In total, emissions from degraded peatlands make up five percent of all anthropogenic CO2 emissions, a staggering amount, considering drained peatlands make up less than 0.4% of the land on Earth [5]. As these numbers suggest, peatlands are crucial in the global carbon cycle. Accordingly, plans to avoid catastrophic climate change must include better management of peatlands to maintain and restore their role as an essential carbon sink.

Peat forest fires are notoriously difficult to extinguish as they burn primarily underground. Once burned, it can take hundreds of years for peat to reaccumulate in the ecosystem.

Elements of Successful Peatland Projects 

The most essential step in rehabilitating degraded peatlands is restoring the original hydrology of the site. Often peatlands are drained artificially through the construction of drainage canals. Damming these canals can be a highly effective measure to restore the original hydrology and eliminate the risk of further drying and subsidence. However, more than restoring hydrology alone is needed to reclaim the site in highly degraded peatlands. Additional reclamation efforts may be necessary to restore the site to its original function, such as reintroducing native plant species. The work required to restore each peatland varies depending on the level of degradation experienced at the site. However, the climate benefits of peatland restoration far outweigh the costs, making peatland restoration an essential and cost-effective strategy for meeting our climate goals.

The Verra Registry has two methodologies related to peatland restoration: VM0027 and VM0036. The first methodology applies to project activities in which drained tropical peatlands are rewet by constructing permanent and/or temporary structures (e.g., dams) which hold back water in drainage waterways. There are yet to be any projects registered with Verra using this methodology. VM0036 applies to project activities implemented to rewet drained peatlands in temperate climatic regions. There is one project currently under validation on the Verra Registry utilizing this methodology in China, which anticipates the rewetting of nearly 1,300 ha of drained wetlands.  

Benefits of Peatland Restoration
 

There are many benefits associated with restoration works that target peatlands. The most obvious benefit is the reduction of CO2 emissions accompanying peatland rewetting and the maintenance of this essential carbon sink. However, the benefits of these projects go far beyond emissions alone. Rewetting peatlands greatly reduces the risk of destructive wildfires and significant flood events affecting populated areas. Wildfires on degraded peatlands can persist for long periods, leading to negative impacts on regional air quality, so mitigating this can improve the health of surrounding communities. Like other natural wetlands, Peatlands also act as a sponge, absorbing water quickly during wet periods and releasing it slowly during dry periods, so they play an important role in flood mitigation. When peatlands are dried and the peat soils compacted, they lose this ability to regulate flood waters and can increase the risk of disastrous flooding affecting local economies and livelihoods.

There are also vital community benefits associated with protecting and restoring peatlands. Indigenous communities, for example, rely heavily on peatlands for their abundant natural resources and cultural significance and are deeply affected by peatland degradation. Restoring peatlands is essential in protecting indigenous peoples’ livelihoods and cultures. In conjunction with the reduced natural disaster risk, these projects can profoundly improve the well-being of nearby communities. These projects also have many benefits associated with biodiversity because peatlands are unique ecosystems with specialized ecological communities that rely on waterlogged, carbon-heavy soils to survive. Plants that thrive in these conditions have known uses for local communities, including medicinal purposes and food sources. They also support a unique makeup of insect and animal communities and are essential ecosystems for maintaining biodiversity on our planet.

Bogs, a common name for wetlands that accumulate peat, typically can be found in cooler, Northern regions in areas where glaciers transformed the landscape.

Project Opportunities

Exploring emerging project opportunities within the nature-based solutions space means assessing both risks and rewards of potential peatland projects and reviewing the findings to make informed decisions for engaging with partners on peatland restoration.

There are many ways to preserve and restore degraded peatlands and create benefits for all stakeholders, including communities that rely on these ecosystems. The voluntary carbon market has proven valuable in securing funding for nature-based solutions projects, and peatland restoration projects are no different. There have been many successful peatland restoration projects across various carbon registries, all harnessing the free market’s power to fund these vital restoration projects.

Peatland restoration projects take work. They require meticulous planning, high-level diligence, and many resources. However, the climate benefits of these projects are undeniably extensive, and the added benefits to communities and biodiversity make these projects highly worthwhile. We are eager to see the opportunities for preserving and restoring peatlands because protecting our peatlands is protecting our future.


[1]  Peatlands store twice as much carbon as forests – here’s what we can do to save them
[2]  What are peatlands?
[3]  Peatlands store twice as much carbon as all the world’s forests
[4]  Destruction of Tropical Peatland Is an Overlooked Source of Emissions

[5]  Peatlands and climate change

About the Author

Jay Reese is a Penn State University student and Project Development Intern at ClimeCo. They are working towards a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Resource Management, with minors in Environmental Engineering and Watersheds & Water Resources. Jay’s time at ClimeCo focuses on providing essential support to the team in all phases of project development. With graduation in December, Jay is eager to continue their career in a field that helps people and the planet. As a part of their undergraduate studies, Jay studied abroad in Ireland. While abroad, they had the opportunity to visit a peat bog and learn about the substantial climate and biodiversity benefits of protecting these ecosystems.

Blue Carbon 102

Blue Carbon 102

Blue Carbon 102


Red, White, & Blue (Carbon): The Global Distribution of Blue Carbon Projects and Opportunities in the United States


by: Allyson Cowell | January 19, 2023

 

Blue Carbon 102 | Allyson UlshIndonesia is home to the largest percentage of mangrove ecosystems globally. Mangroves are critical ecosystems that can sequester and store carbon dioxide, referred to as blue carbon due to their coastal nature.

Where is Blue Carbon Located?

Our team dove headfirst into the world of blue carbon in a previous blog post, Blue Carbon 101. Through exploring how blue carbon differs from ‘regular’ carbon, which ecosystems sequester it, and the interwoven community and biodiversity benefits, it’s clear that blue carbon projects have a fundamental role in addressing and mitigating climate change. Even with the understanding that mangroves, seagrass meadows, and tidal marshes are responsible for sequestering blue carbon, it’s difficult to envision precisely where these critical ecosystems are in the world.

Mangroves are found worldwide in the intertidal zones along coastlines, with a large percentage of the species’ density and diversity in Southeast Asia. Indonesia has over 3.3 million hectares (approximately 8.2 million acres) of mangroves along its coastlines, accounting for nearly 20% of the world’s global mangrove inventory [1]. Brazil, Nigeria, and Mexico jointly account for another 20% of total mangroves worldwide [2].

Seagrasses (not to be confused with seaweed) can be found globally along coastlines, including regions along the Artic circle. Similar to mangrove distribution, the density and diversity of seagrasses are highest along the coasts of Southeast Asian countries throughout the Pacific [3]. Tidal marshes, defined as the wetland areas along and between coastal areas that are inundated by daily tidal patterns, can also be found globally. The contiguous United States, excluding Hawaii and Alaska, has over 2.9 million hectares (7.2 million acres) of intertidal vegetated coastal wetlands, with mangroves and tidal marshes included in this inventory [4].

Unfortunately, mangrove, seagrass, and tidal marsh ecosystems face significant global threats. In addition to removing existing habitats, coastal development alters the hydrology and increases pollution and sedimentation, putting additional pressure on these blue carbon ecosystems. Mangrove ecosystems suffer from deforestation due to increasing pressures from coastal agriculture, including but not limited to shrimp farming, fishing, and salt production. Rising sea levels, changing salinities, and increasing temperatures all stress these critical environments, contributing to further habitat loss across all coastal ecosystems.

Seagrass meadows play an essential role in sequestering and storing blue carbon in the ocean | Blue Carbon 102 by Allyson UlshSeagrass meadows play an essential role in sequestering and storing blue carbon in the ocean.

Where Are Today’s Blue Carbon Projects?

Current blue carbon projects listed on Verra’s Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and Community, Climate, and Biodiversity registries focus primarily on mangrove restoration across four continents. These mangrove projects highlight how carbon finance can be coupled with local conservation organizations to scale restoration efforts. Mirroring the mangrove hotspots discussed above, many of these projects are in the coastal regions of Indonesia, India, China, Nigeria, Senegal, and Mexico. There are currently 28 mangrove projects across 13 countries listed on the VCS registry at various points of project development.

Within the blue carbon space, ClimeCo has partnered with YAKOPI to fund and restore 6,000 acres of mangroves in Indonesia’s Aceh and North Sumatra regions. This mangrove restoration project involves the community throughout the entire process. Including collecting seeds from mangrove propagules, propagating the seeds in nurseries, assessing planting locations, planting the mangroves, and monitoring and maintaining the stand health. More details on this project will be shared in a forthcoming blog post highlighting the incredible community and project partners that have made this project possible.

While several mangrove restoration projects are listed on Verra’s registries, only one listed blue carbon project exists within the United States. This project involves the restoration of seagrass meadows through the direct seeding of seagrass species along Virginia’s coastline. With blue carbon ecosystems accounting for less than 1% of the United States’ natural land area, the opportunity for U.S. blue carbon projects exists but certainly with its own set of challenges.

Blue Carbon Projects available on Verra's Verified Carbon Standard Registry | Blue Carbon 102 by Allyson UlshBlue carbon project locations based on project information publicly available on Verra’s Verified Carbon Standard Registry. Smaller countries on the map may only have one icon representing multiple projects in proximity. 

Louisiana’s coastline is home to the largest, most productive tidal wetland area across the United States | Blue Carbon 102 by Allyson UlshA Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Marsh Master moving through Louisiana’s tidal wetlands. Louisiana’s coastline is home to the largest, most productive tidal wetland area across the United States.

Coastal Blue Carbon in the United States

David Chen and I attended the Restoring America’s Estuaries: Coastal and Estuarine Summit early in December 2022 to learn more about the prospects of blue carbon projects in the United States. More than 1,375 coastal restoration professionals joined us to learn about opportunities and challenges surrounding blue carbon projects across the United States. Through attending several blue carbon sessions, we learned about topics such as seagrass carbon variability in California, the blue carbon market potential in Texas, and how to utilize blue carbon to support coastal wetland restoration in the Northeast.

While it’s clear that blue carbon projects have a fundamental role in addressing and mitigating climate change, it’s also evident that sea-level rise and its variable effects across different blue carbon ecosystems will complicate future project planning and development. Existing coastal marshes across the mid-Atlantic region are forecasted to be significantly vulnerable to sea-level rise. However, an opportunity exists for transitional zone habitats to migrate inland. Sea level rise will need to be accounted for in all aspects of blue carbon project development planning and implementation to ensure ecosystem, and subsequent carbon, permanence.

Additionally, there was a degree of uncertainty addressed in relation to the most effective restoration techniques for tidal marshes and seagrasses. Localized considerations, such as hydrology, in-land development, water quality, and salinity, among others, all play a role in the carbon sequestration rates across ecosystems. Careful consideration of the science behind blue carbon restoration will need to be accounted for in the quantification of carbon emission removals across landscapes.

Lastly are the challenges posed by jurisdictional claims. Carbon rights for the coastal and seafloor blue carbon ecosystems in the United States lie within different governmental agency jurisdictions. All blue carbon projects must involve the appropriate governmental agencies and foster relationships with the state legislature to ensure that projects and partners meet both state-led initiatives and voluntary carbon market standards. As sea-level rise affects these vulnerable ecosystems, the question of jurisdiction will become more complicated.

The scientific expertise and restoration partnership experience was unparalleled across the presentations. Our team’s overall takeaway from the conference was that while developing blue carbon projects in the United States is challenging across several facets, it is certainly possible. As a leader in developing and managing environmental commodities, we are excited to see how blue carbon projects will continue to expand and how we can be at the forefront of domestic blue carbon project development.



[1]  The Economics of Large-scale Mangrove Conservation and Restoration in Indonesia (worldbank.org)

[2]  Global Forest Resources Assessment (fao.org)
[3]  Seagrass and Seagrass Beds | Smithsonian Ocean (si.edu)
[4]  Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2020


About the Author

Allyson Cowell manages ClimeCo’s portfolio of nature-based solutions projects. From reforestation in tropical cloud forests to replanting bald cypress trees in Louisiana, Allyson understands the importance of coupling carbon finance with local stakeholder engagement to scale restoration efforts. Allyson is a Project Associate working within the Nature-Based Solutions project team. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Resource Management from Pennsylvania State University, Schreyer Honors College. 

ClimeCo Partners with Enaleia to Establish a Verra Plastic Collection Project in Kenya

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ClimeCo Partners with Enaleia to Establish a Verra Plastic Collection Project in Kenya

Picking up marine plastic waste on the beach
*Updated June 21, 2023

BOYERTOWN, Pennsylvania (September 14, 2022) – ClimeCo, a leader in the management and development of environmental commodities, has partnered with Enaleia to remove plastic pollution from the Kenyan coast. Enaleia is a non-profit that engages coastal communities to collect plastic on land and in the ocean to reduce pollution and improve marine biodiversity conservation. This partnership will support Enaleia’s newest project in Kenya, contributing to the generation of plastic credits through Verra. With additional funding from ClimeCo and the sale of the credits, Enaleia estimates they will collect 1,000-3,000 tonnes of plastic annually in Kenya.

“A plastic credit is an environmental commodity that represents the collection or recycling of one tonne of plastic material, which can be used in companies’ ESG, CSR, and sustainability programs,” says Chris Parker, ClimeCo’s Director of Plastic Program. “Our approach is to create a system solution to the plastic waste challenge.”

Enaleia, along with other professional entities that are experts in sustainable development, are collaborating with ClimeCo and the Kwale Recycling Centre (KRC) in Kenya to make sure that the plastic will not only be collected but also integrated into the circular economy.

The Chanuka Plastiki project, which means “awareness of plastic” in Swahili, is operated by the Kwale Recycling Centre in Kwale County, Kenya. The KRC works to implement and improve waste management infrastructure and empower the local communities through educational outreach. As part of their “Buy-Back Program,” the KRC registers and trains informal waste pickers to collect plastic from the environment. The waste is then taken to their Material Recovery Facility (MRF), where the KRC sorts, processes, and transports it to the appropriate end destinations, including use as feedstock for their future recycling operations.

“Through the plastic credit model, we can set up large-scale plastic cleanup projects that can create a real impact,” says Lefteris Arapakis, Enaleia’s Co-Founder and Director. “Taking into consideration that 37,000 tonnes of plastic waste leak into the ocean each year in Kenya, by empowering the communities at this scale, we can not only clean up significant amounts of plastic but also prevent further ocean plastic pollution.”

The KRC also installs and maintains free public waste collection bins and organizes volunteer beach clean-ups and staff-led cleanups of illegal dumpsites. The project hopes to expand to include plastic collection within other counties and along the northern coast of Tanzania, an area that shares a border with Kenya and struggles similarly with plastic waste.

To learn more about plastic credits and this project, contact us



About ClimeCo

ClimeCo is a respected global advisor, transaction facilitator, trader, and developer of environmental commodity market products and related solutions. We specialize in voluntary carbon, regulated carbon, renewable energy credits, plastics credits, and regional criteria pollutant trading programs. Complimenting these programs is a team of professionals skilled in providing sustainability program management solutions and developing and financing of GHG abatement and mitigation systems.


About Enaleia

Enaleia is a non-profit social enterprise tackling two directly related problems for the marine environment: the reduction of fish stocks and plastic sea pollution. Its mission is to make the marine ecosystem sustainable by tackling overfishing and plastic pollution. Enaleia teaches fishing practices that preserve local fish populations and remove the mounds of plastic that pollute the world’s seas, adapting the fishing industry for a green future.

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022: Tipping the Scale Toward Clean Energy

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022: Tipping the Scale Toward Clean Energy

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Nancy Marshall, Vice President, Marketing
 484.415.7603 or nmarshall@climeco.com

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022: Tipping the Scale Toward Clean Energy


by: Erica Lasdon | August 30, 2022


Boyertown, Pennsylvania (August 30, 2022) –
Sweeping legislation signed into law this month by President Biden will allow for unprecedented investments to decarbonize the nation’s economy. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) earmarks the bulk of its $490 billion spending on clean energy and climate change mitigation initiatives.

Combined with other recent spending bills, the U.S. government is set to begin a period of transformative investments. The Rocky Mountain Institute, a clean energy think tank, notes that the combined bills will more than triple annual real federal spending compared with recent years, which was already elevated from levels of the 1990s and early 2000s. 



While the IRA is far from perfect, advocates say it provides extraordinary opportunities for the conservation of our nation’s lands and waterways and includes significant resources for restoring wildlife habitats and forests. 

The legislation is expected to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to approximately 40%, compared to 2005-levels, by 2030. Without enactment of the IRA, the U.S. was on course to reduce its GHG emissions to only 26%, compared to 2005-levels, over this period, according to an analysis from the World Economic Forum

For the U.S. to reach its emissions-reduction targets, it’s imperative that we begin to take action across the entire technology adoption curve. This means exploring: 

  • Existing technologies that are ready for market but not deployed. 
  • Solutions that require some further development to be market ready. 
  • Technologies that are only prototypes and need significant development.


Importantly, IRA resources will focus on the most hard-to-abate industrial sectors, such as electric power generation. 

As widely reported, the IRA is projected to drive significant emissions reductions in the electric power sector. To a certain extent, this can lower production emissions in steel, cement, and other carbon-intensive industries. However, practical options to capture carbon from industrial processes and traditional energy production require substantial investment to help meet climate goals. The IRA addresses these challenges by creating incentives through a system of grants, loans, and tax credits, including making certain existing credits larger and more durable. 

Here are a few key IRA provisions for companies and investors to be aware of:

  • Changes to 45Q, the existing tax credit for carbon capture and storage (CCS), make it more profitable and easier to access. Companies will be able to earn $85 for every metric ton of CO2 sequestered, rather than $50/ton previously. (The amount earned is less if the CO2 is buried during oil extraction.) The timeline is more favorable too. Previously, a company had to start building capture equipment by 2026. Now it’s 2033. The IRA also significantly lowers the minimum capture requirement.

  • Methane emissions are an urgent issue for many industries, as this type of emission is far more potent than carbon dioxide and hard to detect. For the oil and gas industry, investments in methane detection and a first-time federal fee on methane emissions will amplify existing initiatives within industry to tackle this problem. The IRA also funds grants, rebates, loans, and other assistance to facilities subject to the methane fee for a variety of measures, including adding or improving equipment and processes that reduce methane emissions.

  • Other long-term tax credits include clean hydrogen fuel development, direct-air-capture deployment, and advanced nuclear projects for heavy industry.

By driving down the cost of clean energy and other climate solutions, this approach may make it easier for companies and local governments to increase their climate ambitions. 

Regardless of your business’s sector, you will feel the impact of the IRA and related legislation. As the landscape shifts, companies and investors should factor an increasing rate of technological and systems change into their future plans. 

Deep decarbonization is complex work that requires a diverse set of policy, legal, technology, and market solutions. Forthcoming investments by the U.S. government seek to put the country on a net-zero pathway. Importantly, investors and corporations have many tools available to assess their pathways to net-zero.  

Since our founding, ClimeCo has been a leading transformation partner to companies, investors, and governments pursuing a low-carbon future.  As a vertically integrated sustainability solutions provider, we have enabled our clients to go beyond business as usual. By developing frontier technology- and nature-based carbon-reduction projects, transacting voluntary and compulsory environmental credits, and advising on climate risk and disclosure, our team is dedicated to implementing decarbonization pathways tailored to our clients’ specific sectors, business models, and balance sheets. 

Please get in touch with us if you want to learn more about our: 

  • Complete range of ESG Advisory solutions that help companies improve readiness and resilience in the ever-changing regulatory environment. 

  • Project Development capabilities around high-quality carbon projects that feature strong engagement with our project partners, local stakeholders, carbon registries, and credit buyers.
  • Environmental Credit offerings from projects we develop and projects we invest in.


About ClimeCo

ClimeCo is a respected global advisor, transaction facilitator, trader, and developer of environmental commodity market products and related solutions. We specialize in voluntary carbon, regulated carbon, renewable energy credits, plastics credits, and regional criteria pollutant trading programs. Complimenting these programs is a team of professionals skilled in providing sustainability program management solutions and developing and financing of GHG abatement and mitigation systems.

For more information or to discuss how ClimeCo can drive value for your organization, contact us at 484.415.0501, info@climeco.com, or through our website climeco.com. Be sure to follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter using our handle, @ClimeCo.