Continued Growth for VCS

Dear colleagues,

If you were among the more than 2,000 attendees at Carbon Expo 2013, you probably noticed the same thing that I did: despite the current dip in market prices, there are still opportunities for market growth. This is especially true in the voluntary market.

We are seeing some of that strong growth here at VCS, including continued interest in our jurisdictional and nested REDD+ (JNR) framework and the milestone registration of our 1,000^th project. In total, VCS projects are responsible for removing more than 125 million tonnes of CO₂e from the atmosphere.

Update: Jurisdictional REDD+ Programs

More and more leading national and subnational jurisdictions, as well as forward-thinking project developers and funds, are collaborating on the development of JNR programs. At Carbon Expo, it was exciting to see the room packed at our side event to discuss government and private sector efforts to scale up REDD projects into JNR programs.

Meanwhile, in Brazil this week, we are co-hosting the South-South Jurisdictional and Nested REDD+ (JNR) Exchange Workshop with IDESAM and the Amazonas State Center for Climate Change (CECLIMA) on developing JNR programs. Representatives from more than a dozen national and subnational jurisdictions across the world are in attendance. Big things should be coming out of this event: I’ll keep you posted. Learn more about the advancement of JNR pilot programs.

New Program Initiative to Boost Support for VVBs, Project Proponents

As both the number of VCS projects and the complexity of the VCS Program continue to grow, the VCS Board approved a proposal at its May meeting for VCS to strengthen its relationships with VVBs, providing additional support and guidance to ensure project proponents are properly navigating new VCS requirements and methodologies. This will also mean that VCS staff will initiate formal project reviews at registration and issuance. We plan to set out specific procedures for this work in the fall of this year.

New Chief Operating and Financial Officer

As some of you heard at Carbon Expo, we have a new Chief Operating and Financial Officer: Will Ferretti. Many of you probably first met Will in his previous position as our Market Development Director. He will be handling the day-to-day operations of the organization as well as managing our finances. He is supremely qualified for this position, with more than two decades of senior executive experience. Of course, that means we need to backstop the Market Development work Will has been doing to date, and we plan to do that over the next few months as Will transitions to his new role.

VCS Stakeholders Make VCS World’s No.1 Voluntary Standard

Finally, I wanted to personally thank each of you who took the time to vote for VCS as the top voluntary standard inEnvironmental Finance’s Annual Market Survey. I can speak for all of my staff when I say it is an honor to be held in such high regard by the community.

These results dovetail with the newest Ecosystem Marketplace report, which shows that VCS continues to be the most widely used standard in the voluntary market. According to the report, VCS projects provide more than half of the 101 million credits transacted worldwide in 2012. This, of course, reflects the trust project proponents and buyers have placed in VCS, so a big thanks to all of you who rely on VCS for trusted climate solutions.

As you can see, VCS continues to grow and be a leader in the market. This would never have been possible without the commitment and dedication of our project developers, methodology developers, VVBs and market partners like you. Thank you for continuing to drive forward the growth of the voluntary market.

Sincerely,

David Antonioli

Chief Executive Officer