Welcome to the Climate Action Reserve, a new division of the California Climate Action Registry that we have created to provide a high, accurate and measurable standard for the national voluntary carbon reduction market.

 

The voluntary carbon market has the potential of contributing greatly to the reduction of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and to help curb climate change. At the same time, there has been a great need for increased environmental integrity, transparency, rigor and accuracy in this market. The Climate Action Reserve meets this need by setting a high measurable standard and by bringing more certainty about the carbon reduction projects for investors in this emerging market, project developers, the environmental community, and the public.

 

The Climate Action Reserve has several elements that make it an effective tool in the fight against climate change. First, Registry staff develop standardized greenhouse gas reduction project protocols for specific industry sectors that are based on internationally recognized best practices. The protocols are created by stakeholder work groups representing the industry, government, science, and environmental sectors, and are vetted through a formal public review and comment process before being published on our website for the public to use.

 

Secondly, owners and developers of greenhouse gas emission reduction projects register their projects and the associated inventories of Climate Reserve Tonnes (CRTs) on the Reserve website. In order to register a project it must meet specific criteria and have been publicly listed for consideration. After that, a project is verified by an independent third party to ensure the project has met the protocol standards and to accurately quantify the greenhouse gas reductions.

 

Thirdly, each ton of verified greenhouse gas emission reductions, known as Climate Reserve Tonnes (CRT), associated with a project registered on the Reserve is assigned a unique serial number. This prevents the possibility of double counting and also assures buyers that when a CRT has been retired it cannot ever be sold or transferred again, creating a real and permanent offset.

 

After more than five years of building a solid reputation for accurately, conservatively, and transparently measuring and reporting the greenhouse gas emissions of the country’s environmental business leaders, we are excited to turn our focus to bring that same high level of credibility to registering and tracking greenhouse gas emissions reductions with the Climate Action Reserve. The staff and I look forward to continuing to serve and collaborate with you to provide practical effective solutions to the challenges of climate change.

 

Sincerely,

Gary Gero,
President
California Climate Action Registry