Point Carbon is first U.N. approved carbon neutral company
Oslo, May 01 2008
Point Carbon and South Pole beat the rest as first companies to cancel CERs
Point Carbon, the leading provider of market intelligence, news, analysis, forecasting and advisory services for the energy and environmental markets, is delighted to announce that it was the first company in the history of global carbon markets to formally retire its certified emissions reductions (CERs), paving the way for others to formalize their commitment to going carbon neutral.
By having its CERs cancelled, Point Carbon has made good the promise it made in 2007 to go carbon neutral by offsetting its emissions from operations, including air travel and energy use. Point Carbon chose to offset its emissions through investment in a gold-standard, clean-energy scheme in Malavalli, India, and linked up with the Swiss-based South Pole Carbon Asset Management Fund to source and develop the project.
According to Per-Otto Wold, CEO of Point Carbon, "For brand reasons we didn't want to take any risks in buying carbon credits that we didn't know the quality of. For this reason we chose to purchase Gold Standard Certified Emission Reductions (CERs). For Point Carbon this was important that these credits had passed through three levels of quality assurance: the CDM approval process, the Gold Standard Certification process, and South Pole Asset Management's selection process." Additionally, Point Carbon has contracted with South Pole Asset Management to buy more carbon credits as needed should its projected emissions increase, ensuring Point Carbon continues to be carbon neutral.
Efforts to off-set carbon emissions by investments in clean energy projects have been subjected to scrutiny among the press amid claims that they can be unreliable and unclear, however, Point Carbon has shown that by carefully choosing the right project, and with the help of a leading carbon asset manager, genuine reductions in carbon emissions can be made and verified. And whilst several other companies have made similar carbon neutral promises, including the likes of British Airways and Easy Jet, Point Carbon is the first company to have formally made good its carbon neutral pledge.
Commenting on the historic deal, Christoph Sutter, Managing Director of South Pole, said, "This was the very first cancellation of CERs in the history of mankind. We thought Point Carbon being a leading pioneer in this market would be an honourable partner to share this step with".
The CERs were retired in February into the Swiss national registry, one of the first national registries, including Japan, New Zealand and Russia, to be linked to the UN's International Transaction Log (ITL) enabling it to formally cancel CERs. By having its CERs cancelled in a national registry, Point Carbon has ensured the reductions cannot be sold on to others.
Speaking to Point Carbon employees, Per-Otto Wold said "Next time you fly for work, think about the fact that one of the first activities ever to take place in the global carbon emissions market created by the Kyoto Protocol was done in part to compensate for exactly the flight you are undertaking".
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