Our Portfolio - Overview
We’re living on the cusp of a new era. The tools of the global economy and the world’s incredible stock of human capital and ingenuity are being marshaled every single day to tackle one of the greatest challenges we’ve ever faced.
By becoming a member of The Belgrave Trust, you're assuming a leadership role -- channeling your social investment towards the innovators, scientists, entrepreneurs, educators, businesspeople, firms, and organizations that are actually doing something to reduce greenhouse gas emissions every single day.
The Belgrave Trust acquires and manages a portfolio of offsets -- each representing a specific and verifiable reduction in greenhouse gas emissions -- and removes these offsets from circulation on behalf of our members.
Well over half a billion dollars in carbon offset securities change hands during any given trading day on regulated exchanges, in addition to specialized and/or privately sourced offsets traded over the counter.
We believe that standardized, market-traded offsets are the most effective way to distribute resources towards greenhouse gas reduction, and our portfolio reflects it. In order to help our members live carbon neutral, we purchase and retire carbon offsets drawn from a diverse group of sources.
Guided by Belgrave Trust's Carbon Markets Advisor Peter Fusaro, our offset choices are reviewed by experts in carbon trading who are fluent in market trends, evolving standards, and best practices. In addition, oversight is provided by a portfolio review committee, with an independent review and report in progress and slated for release following the close of the calendar year.
We strive for diversification in almost every aspect of our portfolio, from sequestration to source reduction and across varied geographical areas. But there's one major exception -- quality. All of the offset securities we retire on behalf of our members are held to the strictest third-party verification standards.
We also believe that the a diversified approach requires a direct discourse with offset creators and standards authorities to stay abreast of the latest best practices and ensure due diligence. And in addition to the offsets we retire for our members, we allocate a portion of our portfolio -- over and above our obligations to our members -- towards innovation funding, to innovators and technologists working on projects that may be speculative, but have a chance of creating paradigm-shifting solutions.
To be credible, offsets must meet a series of criteria. Specific methodologies vary slightly by certification standard, but typically represent the best practices as established by the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) or Joint Implementation (JI) standards, which are in turn under the aegis of the IPCC, the Nobel Prize winning UN panel recognized as the worldwide authority on climate change science.
All high quality offsets, and all the offsets that make up our portfolio, must meet the following tests:
Verifiable: The actual offsetting activity must have actually taken place. Retirements for our members are invariably drawn from current or recent year vintages, rather than GHG reductions expected to take place in future years.
Additional: The reduction in GHG emissions must be demonstrated to be a reduction that would not have taken place without the resources provided by the offset purchaser. In other words, the offsets must reflect "above and beyond" reductions, rather than reductions undertaken for cost savings or normal course of business activities.
Permanent: Offset activity must not merely shift GHG emissions from one region or area to another, and safeguards must be in place to guard against reversability.
Measurable: The amount of GHG reduction (typically expressed in CO2 equivalent tons) must be able to be determined, and conform to the generally accepted consensus of the scientific community.
Exclusive: Emissions reductions cannot be "double counted," for example taken as a credit at several points in a supply chain. An example of double counting might be an electric utility claiming credit for generating via renewable sources, and then credits claimed again by a manufacturer acting as the end-user of that power.
Certified: The offsets must be certified by an independent and reputable third party as conforming to the above criteria and following established protocols. These authorities and standards are described in more detail below.
At present our portfolio contains a diversified mix of offsets within the following categories.
Voluntary Emissions Reductions (VERs) are verified offsets created for those who wish to voluntarily reduce their carbon footprint. VERs are created for a variety of reasons, which can range from sourcing in a country that is not a party to the Kyoto Protocol (like the United States), projects too small or out of scope for the CDM protocol, or simply because the projects are designed for the voluntary market.
Certified Emissions Reductions (CERs) are issued under the auspices of the United Nations framework, typically under the CDM standard, and are verified offsets suitable for regulatory compliance, though they serve equally well for use in the individual voluntary market.
VER+
The VER+ standard closely follows the Kyoto Protocol framework (CDM and JI) though these projects are not included in accounting for Kyoto compliance. Though not identical, as a general rule VER+ offsets are held to the same high standards as Kyoto's CDM/JI regulatory credits, but are created expressly for the voluntary market.
Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS)
The VCS standard is applicable to all jurisdictions and exists outside of the regulatory offset framework. The VCS program is owned and managed by an independent, non-profit organization. Offsets are denominated in Voluntary Carbon Units (VCUs), each of which represents a ton of CO2 equivalent GHG emissions reduction.
Climate Action Reserve (CAR/CCAR)
An evolution of the CCAR, originally created by the State of California, the CAR program is a national program dedicated to establishing regulatory-quality standards for North America. Denominated in Climate Reserve Tonnes (CRTs), the CAR is recognized as both one of the most rigorous and most transparent frameworks in the voluntary market.
Gold Standard
Gold Standard credits (which can fall under either CER or VER designation) are under the oversight of the Geneva-based Gold Standard Foundation and governed by a consortium of of over 60 worldwide NGOs. Certification follows the CDM methodology, but includes additional requirements including expanded disclosure as well as sustainable development goals, and an assessment of benefits imparted to local communities.
While we believe that the well established standards are typically the most efficient method of distributing resources, all new technology and rapidly growing markets require early stage and speculative funding to get good ideas off the ground. Just like angel investors and venture capitalists help fund the companies that end up traded on the major stock exchanges, in the carbon offset space we feel it is crucial to direct funds towards early stage projects. These projects are uncertified, but we do not consider them to be valid, and crucially -- we don't use them as part of our retirement obligations to our members until and unless they meet strict criteria and certification.