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Canada launches greenhouse gas offset credit

The Government of Canada launched Canada’s Greenhouse Gas Offset Credit System. The offset system will give municipalities, foresters, farmers, and Indigenous communities a market-based incentive to undertake projects that reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) by preventing emissions and removing GHGs from the atmosphere.

Under the new system, registered participants can carry out projects following a federal offset protocol, which sets out an approach for measuring GHG emissions reductions or removals for specific types of projects. These projects can generate one tradeable offset credit for every tonne of emissions they reduce or remove from the atmosphere. Once a credit is earned, it can be sold to others to help them meet their compliance obligations or emissions reduction goals under the carbon pollution pricing system.

“Establishing a federal carbon offset market is a win-win for the economy and the environment. Starting with landfills, we’re putting in place a market-based mechanism to incentivize businesses and municipalities to invest in the technologies and innovations that cut pollution,” said The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change “Over the coming year, we will roll out more offset protocols for activities in other sectors, such as forestry and agriculture.”

Under the Landfill Methane Recovery and Destruction protocol, municipalities and other landfill operators will be able to generate offset credits for recovering landfill gas from their operations and destroying it or repurposing it into energy with technologies such as flares, boilers, turbines, and engines. Reducing greenhouse gases from waste (responsible for seven percent of Canada’s greenhouse gases) is a component to achieving Canada’s emissions reduction targets.

Four additional offset protocols are currently in development for activities such as advanced refrigeration, agriculture, and forest management. Environment and Climate Change Canada has identified the next round of protocols for development, which will include a protocol for Direct Air Carbon Capture and Sequestration, technologies that directly remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and permanently store it underground.