VCS Partners with Fundación Chile on First VCS Global Satellite Office
Chile office will spearhead outreach across Spanish-speaking South America
SANTIAGO (10 May) – The Verified Carbon Standard has agreed to partner with Fundación Chile to open the first VCS global satellite office, to be based in Santiago de Chile. The new office will be tasked with promoting the uptake of VCS principles and requirements and supporting project developers across Spanish-speaking South America.
VCS is among the world’s most widely used programs for quantifying greenhouse gas reductions and issuing GHG credits in voluntary markets. It has been used by more than 600 projects on six continents to issue more than 55 million Verified Carbon Units (VCUs), which are bought and sold around the world.
Fundación Chile is a recognized private-public development organization credited with sparking several successful initiatives. The organization recently partnered with Chile’s Celfin brokerage to launch the Santiago Climate Exchange, an open platform for transacting GHG reductions and credits. VCUs will be among the verified credits accepted for trade on the new exchange.
On Tuesday, VCS and Fundación Chile signed a memorandum of understanding to partner in opening a VCS satellite office in Santiago. The office will promote the uptake of VCS principles and requirements, especially within the context of emerging voluntary and compliance regimes in the region, and support projects and suppliers of VCUs across Spanish-speaking South America.
Under the agreement, an Advisory Committee will be convened to guide development of the office and the initiatives it undertakes. The advisory committee will bring together up to 10 recognized individuals from across South America to represent different aspects of the market.
“This partnership is a smart model that will leverage the expertise of established global partners and engage key stakeholders from across the region,” said VCS CEO David Antonioli. “Carbon markets are evolving and, in the absence of a global framework, they are seeking out clear standards and best practices to make sure that what they do works and is compatible with other markets in the future.”
Aldo Cerda, Commercial and Corporate Director of Fundación Chile, said: “With this relationship Chilean and South American project developers, especially those in the forestry, agriculture, energy and construction sectors, will have better conditions for developing their projects at all scales.”