Verra CEO David Antonioli testified today at the House Agriculture Committee hearing on “Voluntary Carbon Markets in Agriculture and Forestry“.
Mr. Antonioli testified about the operation of high-integrity carbon crediting programs, how voluntary carbon markets are evolving in the United States and globally, and identified how participation in voluntary carbon markets can benefit the American agriculture and forestry sectors.
“The world is facing a climate emergency. We must do all that we can to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. In practice, this means cutting global emissions by one half by 2030, and then eliminating remaining global emissions to zero by 2050. Voluntary carbon markets provide built-out, ready-made infrastructure for identifying opportunities to cut emissions and to quantify the impacts of these opportunities. They can be scaled up rapidly to meet the demand that has finally arrived.”
“The voluntary carbon market provides a route-to-market for American farmers and forest owners. Given the scaling of global demand, the time is ripe to facilitate their access to ready-made infrastructure.”
Read the written testimony of David Antonioli [PDF].