Standard set for T-VER carbon trading credits

The Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization (TGO) will next month introduce a standard to regulate carbon credit trading under the Thailand Voluntary Emission Reduction (T-VER) scheme.

Credits under T-VER will be open to trading locally next year.

The TGO will introduce a measurement, reporting and verification system to standardise carbon credit transactions for targeted buyers, the government and private companies.

Normally, carbon-trading schemes follow guidelines set by the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) mandated by the Kyoto protocol.

The TGO has so far approved 221 CDM projects.

Prasertsuk Chamornmarn, deputy executive director of the TGO, said T-VER has been developed as a local carbon offset programme using the internationally recognised methodology of measuring carbon emissions based on CDM sets from the Kyoto Protocol, US carbon market and Gold Standard Foundation.

T-VER is one of three projects introduced in the country’s voluntary carbon market, which is aimed at mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.

The other two are the Voluntary Emission Reduction programme and the Thailand Voluntary Emission Trading Scheme.

Projects eligible under T-VER include energy efficiency, alternative and renewable energy, solid waste and transport management, forestry and green areas, and agriculture.

The price of T-VER credits will depend on the market situation, buyer discretion or arrangements between participants, said Mr Prasertsuk.

‘‘The price of carbon credits has declined in the developing world, but new markets continue to emerge. And Asia is responding to the change faster than other regions,’’ said Dirk Forrister, president and chief executive of the International Emissions Trading Association.

He said underlying the carbon programmes in Asia is the fact that they are designed to be comparable down the line throughout the continent, meaning T-VER credits can be traded elsewhere on the continent too.

Pongvipa Lohsomboon, director of the TGO’s carbon business office, said businesses can buy credits to offset their emissions as part of their corporate social responsibility programme or government tax incentive.

Mrs Prasertsuk said one way of encouraging participation is to develop a carbon fund through a public-private joint venture to support future greenhouse mitigation projects.