Environmental Commodities
Offsetting your greenhouse gas emissions is a way to take responsibility for the emissions you cannot avoid, while also contributing to the development of low-carbon solutions.
Environmental commodities play a critical role in achieving sustainability goals and facilitating the transition to a low-carbon economy.
As the world becomes more environmentally conscious, the use of environmental commodities will only continue to grow. These instruments allow organizations to support renewable energy production and nature conservation, offset their greenhouse gas emissions, and improve their overall sustainability performance. At SGY, we help our clients evaluate the quality and credibility of environmental commodities, understand the differences between them, and assess their cost-effectiveness.
A Sustainable Economy Model to Reduce Emissions
We provide brokerage and consulting services in global environmental commodity markets that helps businesses reduce their carbon footprint and achieve their sustainability goals.
Our Process
Identification and Selection of High-Quality Projects
We help businesses identify and select carbon offset projects, renewable energy certificates that align with their sustainability goals and stakeholder expectations.
Verification of Project Additionality and Emissions Reductions
We ensure that the carbon offset projects our clients invest in are additional and generate real and verifiable emissions reductions.
Purchase and Retirement of Environmental Commodities
We purchase and retire environmental commodities on our clients’ behalf, ensuring that the emissions reductions are not double-counted.
Reporting on the Social and Environmental Co-Benefits of the Climate Mitigation Projects
We report on the social and environmental co-benefits of the climate mitigation projects our clients invest in, such as poverty reduction and biodiversity conservation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are carbon offsets?
Carbon offsets are a type of environmental commodity that represent the reduction, avoidance, or removal of one tonne of greenhouse gas emissions. They are generated by emission reduction projects that are verified by independent third parties to ensure that they are additional, measurable, and permanent. Carbon offsets can be purchased by individuals and businesses to offset their own carbon footprint and support emission reduction projects around the world.
What are I-RECs and RECs?
Renewable energy certificates (RECs) and international renewable energy certificates (I-RECs) are environmental commodities that represent the generation of one megawatt-hour (MWh) of renewable energy. RECs are typically used in North America, while I-RECs are used in other parts of the world. They are generated by renewable energy projects that are verified by independent third parties. RECs and I-RECs can be purchased by individuals and businesses to support the development of renewable energy projects and reduce their carbon footprint.
What are some of the credible international standards for ensuring quality?
There are several international standards that ensure the quality and credibility of environmental commodities, including the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), Gold Standard, and International Renewable Energy Certificate Standard (I-REC). These standards provide rigorous criteria for project selection, additionality, monitoring, and reporting to ensure that environmental commodities are credible and contribute to sustainable development.
How can System Group help with Environmental Commodities?
System Group offers a range of services to help businesses support emission reduction projects and renewable energy projects through environmental commodities. We provide carbon offsetting services, REC and I-REC purchasing services, and strategic consulting services to help our clients develop and implement sustainable energy strategies. In addition to developing and implementing our own emission reduction and renewable energy projects, we also work with a network of credible project developers and environmental commodity suppliers to ensure that our clients’ investments have a meaningful impact on the environment and society.