Partnership to expand access to volumes of premium offsets for the pre-compliance and voluntary carbon markets
Washington DC, April 7, 2009 – American Carbon Registry, an enterprise of Winrock International and the longest serving U.S. carbon registry, and TZ1 Environmental Registry (TZ1), a financial-market-based platform for carbon and other environmental assets, announced a strategic partnership to stimulate the market for trading U.S. pre-compliance and global voluntary market carbon offsets. The alliance is based on the synergy of the organizations’ core strengths and the common goal of growing the U.S. market for transparent transactions of credible environmental commodities.
The agreement demonstrates a convergence of expertise and provides a much needed mechanism for efficient trading of high quality carbon offsets. TZ1 will provide its sophisticated online registry infrastructure to the American Carbon Registry, including real-time, Web-based secure accounts to buy, sell, hold and retire carbon offsets. American Carbon Registry will continue to contribute its expert in-house capabilities in high quality offset standards development and offset issuance.
“The partnership is especially meaningful for American Carbon Registry members, who will benefit from transacting ERTs through TZ1’s extensive global client network, and for TZ1 clients and stakeholders, who for the first time will have access to American Carbon Registry’s premium carbon offsets through their TZ1 account,” said Mary Grady of the American Carbon Registry.
In fact, through an online account with either registry, members can buy, sell or retire carbon offsets from multiple offset ‘currencies’ including American Carbon Registry’s high quality Emission Reduction Tons (ERT), Voluntary Carbon Units (VCU), Climate Community and Biodiversity Standard (CCB) units, Plan Vivo units and Social Carbon units.
The partnership also affords TZ1 and American Carbon Registry members access to significant volumes of offsets. The American Carbon Registry, the largest U.S. registry, boasts registration of over 26 million tradable offsets and has a large current offset pipeline of key pre-compliance tons from project types including forestry, fuel switching, land-use change, agriculture and landfill methane, and geologic sequestration. TZ1 has listed more than 8.5 million tons of international offsets in the last eight months.
The new alliance also helps to resolve recent concern over offset quality and transparency in the unregulated voluntary market. “This partnership marks another step in the right direction. It demonstrates that collaboration between market leaders can be achieved for the right reason – to ensure the development of a transparent domestic offset market with high environmental credibility,” said American Carbon Registry Director, John Kadyszewski.
“We enthusiastically support this cooperation between two key carbon market players to increase market integration. The robust TZ1 registry system is an excellent complement to American Carbon Registry’s recognized leadership with the highest-quality carbon offsets” says Eric Carlson, President of Carbonfund.org, an American Carbon Registry Founding Member and recipient of the American Carbon Registry “2008 Buyer of the Year” award.
“Through strong leadership and the right strategic partnerships the American market can build a solid platform from which a credible carbon market can grow and achieve scale. This American Carbon Registry - TZ1 partnership provides critical infrastructure ensuring the highest market integrity and helping to create this platform,” said TZ1 Registry Chief Executive, Helen Robinson. “As the only truly global environmental markets registry, TZ1 is committed to facilitating a positive environmental transformation both within the USA and around the world.”
About American Carbon Registry
The American Carbon Registry, an enterprise of Winrock International, is a leading non-profit U.S. carbon market registry and carbon technical services provider. As the first private voluntary greenhouse gas registry in the U.S., American Carbon Registry boasts time-tested integrity in high quality carbon offset registration, organizational GHG inventory reporting and carbon technical services. The American Carbon Registry was founded in 1997 as the GHG Registry by the Environmental Defense Fund and Environmental Resources Trust (ERT). The Registry and ERT joined Winrock International in 2007, expanding Winrock's team of climate change, forestry, clean energy, agriculture, and carbon market experts. For more information on the Registry including a list of Founding Members, please visit www.americancarbonregistry.org.
About TZ1
TZ1 offers a robust and fully integrated financial market infrastructure platform for environmental commodities. The TZ1 Environmental Registry service provides critical market capability including issuance, holdings, transfers, retirement services and financial market requirements such as delivery versus payment. Designed specifically for environmental markets and financial market activity, the TZ1 Environmental Registry supports transacting in high quality voluntary carbon credits and environmental certificates and credits through a credible, externally audited retirement facility.
Media Contacts:
Edelman
Anu Ramamurty, Communications
Phone: 212-704-8155
Email: anu.ramamurty@edelman.com
American Carbon Registry
Mary Grady, Director of Membership and Registry Services
Phone: 703-525-9430 x 820
Email: Mgrady@americancarbonregistry.org
TZ1Environmental Registry
Lucy McFadden, Communications
Phone: 212-883-0338
Email: lucy.mcfadden@tz1market.com
Download this release by clicking here