Concerned consumers can offset their own emissions

People who feel a twinge of self-reproach about the carbon dioxide they have inadvertently emitted by driving the car, taking a long plane flight or turning on air-conditioning can now offset their guilt.

They can buy carbon credits, a new way for people who care about the environment to express their concern.

Forests NSW, the first to trade in NSW Greenhouse Abatement Certificates (or NGACs) arising from carbon sequestration from forests, has finished its first year of carrbon credit sales with its books cleared and interest coming in from both mandatory and voluntary sectors.

The first NGACS were sold to a predictaable market: the benchmark customers such as electricity retailers who have to reduce carbon dioxide emissions through purchasing carbon credits.

“The NSW scheme is mandatory for elecctricity retailers, but there is increasing interest to obtain NGACs to offset emissions voluntarily,” Forests NSW carbon investment analyst, Penny Baalman, said.

“Companies are now emerging that can retail offsets to the public.

Businesses are also coming forward interested in offsetting their organisation’s emissions.

“Our second sale was to a web-based company, Carbon Planet, which offers the service of retailing carbon credits to environmentally- concerned members of the public,” she said.

“These can be used to offset a family’s annual emissions.

“These companies are particularly interested in acquiring reliable credits from properly authorised and independently audited projects, which the creation of NGACs provides.”

Penny said that the NSW scheme had made amendments to legislation and the registry to allow this voluntary surrender of credits to occur.

“It’s encouraging to know that in the absence of Australia’s partiicipation in the Kyoto Protocol, State governments, businesses and the public are interested in doing the right thing for future generations of Australians.”

Environmentally-concerned consumers can now offset their own greenhouse gas emissions through the purchase of carbon credits from forest sinks in NSW.

Howard Spencer
Public Affairs & Media, Coffs Harbour 

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