More ambition and innovation in tackling climate change (VCS)

We have received the April / May 2017 Spring Newsletter from Verified Carbon Standard (VCS). VCS was founded in 2005 by environmental and business leaders who saw the need for greater quality assurance in voluntary carbon markets. CEO David Antonioli speaks about President Trump's decision to withdraw the Paris Agreement. The statement follows:

"Dear Colleague,
More than anything, we see Trump’s decision to abandon the Paris Agreement as a call to continue the work we are already doing, and we look forward to working with all of you to push for more ambition and innovation in tackling climate change".

We saw it coming, and yet Trump’s decision to pull out of the landmark Paris Agreement was nevertheless deeply disheartening. While we were dismayed by the decision, we are no less motivated to keep working towards climate action. We stand with countries, states, cities, organisations and corporations worldwide that have signaled their commitment to stick with the Paris Agreement and continue to find ways of addressing climate change. Indeed, on the same day as Trump’s announcement, Colombia published what we think is a far-reaching and incredibly innovative decree setting out how companies subject to a US$5/tonCO₂e tax on fuels can reduce their tax liability by surrendering high-quality carbon offsets. This is just one of what we hope (and expect) to be many examples of countries and others taking the lead in forging solutions to fight climate change.

For VCS, supporting the Paris Agreement means continuing to provide frameworks that catalyze investment in activities that reduce concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. It also means providing frameworks that will work in the context of a fully functioning Paris Agreement, which will require that we continue to make sure our projects and programs deliver measurable results and also deal with some of the challenges we see coming forward, including the need to address double counting and claiming".