(Bogotá, Colombia) – The voluntary carbon market in Colombia is set to expand, thanks in part to an agreement reached by the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and Fundación Natura (FN) in Bogotá this morning. By signing a memorandum of understanding, both organizations have agreed to work together to build the necessary foundation for a robust voluntary carbon market in Colombia; this market will recognize Verified Carbon Units (VCUs) as one of the main credits to be transacted.
“As the chief executive of the world’s largest, and most respected carbon standard, we are honored to have the chance to work closely with Fundación Natura to help establish a voluntary market in Colombia,” said VCS Chief Executive Officer David Antonioli. “The forests of Colombia and South America represent some of the world’s best opportunities for emission reductions and carbon sequestration. Additionally, bringing carbon finance to the forest and agricultural sectors could bring new opportunities for development and conservation in Colombia.”
“Como el director del estándar más grande y reconocido a nivel mundial, tenemos el honor de trabajar de cerca con Fundación Natura para establecer un mercado voluntario de carbono en Colombia,” propuso David Antonioli, el Director Ejecutivo del VCS. “Los bosques de Colombia y Suramérica representan algunas de las mejores oportunidades para reducir emisiones y capturar carbono. Además, la introducción del financiamiento de carbono a los sectores forestal y agrícola pueden traer nuevas oportunidades para el desarrollo y la conservación en Colombia.”
In conjunction with the establishment of an office in Santiago, Chile earlier this year, this agreement marks the next step forward in VCS’s growing involvement in the region. Through this specific agreement, VCS will offer training sessions on the VCS Program to key stakeholders, including project developers, auditors, interested buyers and policy makers. These seminars will focus on the elements of the VCS Program and provide guidance on the use of new crediting mechanisms such as the soon-to-be-released VCS jurisdictional and nested REDD+ requirements and the VCS requirements on standardized approaches to baselines and additionality. Both VCS and FN will work together to reach out to Colombian companies to promote the growth of this new emerging market in addition to the benefits of carbon neutrality.
“While the international market is robust, it needs groups with vision like Fundación Natura to step up and take the lead to increase demand for credits in their own backyard,” said Mr. Antonioli. “This agreement serves as a model for other groups around the world that are interested in starting a voluntary market in their country, but are unsure of where to start.”
“Mientras el mercado internacional es fuerte, se necesita de grupos con visión como Fundación Natura para fomentar la demanda de créditos en su propio país,” dijo el Sr. Antonioli. “Este acuerdo sirve como modelo para otras organizaciones a lo largo del mundo que quieran construir un mercado voluntario en su país pero no estén seguros donde empezar.”
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Founded in 2005 by the Climate Group, the International Emissions Trading Association and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the Verified Carbon Standard has become one of the world’s most widely used carbon accounting standards. VCS has revolutionized the market developing trusted and innovative tools, as well as pioneering efforts to develop standardized methods that will streamline the project approval process, reduce transaction costs and enhance transparency. Across the world, projects using the VCS Standard have issued more than 100 million credits. VCS headquarters are in Washington, DC and it currently has offices in China and South America.