EPCOR supports the trading of verified emission offsets because markets efficiently allocate capital to the best reduction opportunities.
Trading offsets is essential for the efficient allocation of capital to emission reduction opportunities. In order to create and trade offsets, market participants require certainty about market trading regulations.
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A greenhouse gas (GHG) offset is generated by the reduction, avoidance, or sequestration of GHG emissions from a specific project. Offsets are so named because they counteract or offset greenhouse gases that would have been emitted into the atmosphere; they are a compensating equivalent for reductions made at a specific source of emissions. |
The creation of offsets through greenhouse gas reductions, and their trading, is essential if the industry and the national government are to achieve GHG reductions. Few in the power industry have access to sufficient internal investment opportunities to economically create GHG reductions on the scale required.
All market participants and governments have an interest in offsets that are real and verifiable: certification is essential to ensure the reductions have been made and for risk-management.
Canada’s market trading scheme is at initial stages of development and has yet to launch. The lack of market regulations impedes the creation and management of offsets.
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To provide certainty for industry and government, EPCOR advocates that the market:
- Include clear rules for offset eligibility and verification.
- Provide access to verifiable credits from international markets. Canadian markets will have insufficient supply to meet domestic needs, and access to additional markets will reduce the cost to Canadians.
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