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The Department of Energy and Climate Change has announced that the UK Government Quality Assurance Scheme for carbon offsetting, which provides consumers with a “shortcut to purchasing high quality offsets”, will close with effect from the 30 June 2011.
The Quality Assurance Scheme accredits four carbon offset retailers in the UK as well as offsets sold by British Airways and E.ON. DECC issued a note to providers cancelling the scheme on Friday 20 May, just one month before the scheme is due to close.
The Quality Assurance Scheme was introduced to provide a straightforward route for consumers and businesses to identifying quality offsets. DECC said “By vouching for the quality of the offsets, the Scheme helps clear up the principle uncertainties involved in offsetting.” [http://offsetting.decc.gov.uk/]
The "principle uncertainties" in offsetting are “additionality” (the extent to which the method provides emission reductions beyond business-as-usual), lack of transparency about where consumers money goes and fraud and risk of offset credits being sold more than once.
The Government assurance scheme is the only third party standard which ensures credits have been retired or cancelled - all other standards just accredit the offset method used.
In a letter sent late on Friday afternoon to companies accredited by the Scheme, reasons cited for removal of the Scheme were “DECC’s need to align limited resources with departmental priorities” and the “disappointingly low take-up” of the Scheme by businesses since it was launched in 2009.
Businesses that are affected include those that have invested in being accredited by the Scheme and those that have opted to purchase Quality Assured offsets in order to meet UK government best practice. Also affected are consumers, who will now be left to navigate the complexities of the carbon markets on their own.
Jane Burston, Founder of Carbon Retirement, a company accredited by the Scheme, said:
The Quality Assurance Scheme is a guiding light for consumers in an incredibly crowded marketplace. With over 18 separately run voluntary standards, and the risks in the offset market around lack of transparency and environmental effectiveness, the Quality Assurance Scheme had the potential to cut through the noise.
Our approach to offsetting, which removes pollution allowances from the European market, is thought among environmentalists to be the most effective form of offsetting. Membership of the QAS helped us communicate this to our customers, so this short notice Government u-turn on the scheme is a real blow for us.
The scheme was designed to be self-sustaining but has had very little public exposure since launch. It’s disappointing that DECC have decided to cancel the scheme, instead of increasing its visibility and making the high-quality offsets it represents more accessible.”
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