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Chicago
Climate Exchange
Chicago
Climate Exchange (CCX) is North America’s
only voluntary, legally binding greenhouse gas
(GHG) reduction and trading system for emission
sources and offset projects in North America and
Brazil.
A
project that is beyond business as usual is commonly
referred to as a carbon project. CCX employs independent
verification, includes six greenhouse gases, and
has been trading greenhouse gas emission allowances
since 2003. The companies joining the exchange
commit to reducing their aggregate emissions by
6% by 2010. To date the exchange has more than
350 members ranging from corporations like Ford,
DuPont, and Motorola, to state and municipalities
such as Oakland and Chicago, to educational institutions
such as Tufts University and University of Minnesota,
to farmers and their organizations, such as the
National Farmers Union and the Iowa Farm Bureau.
CCX has an aggregate baseline of 226 million metric
tons of CO2 equivalent, which is equal to the
United Kingdom’s annual allocation under
the EU ETS. This would make the CCX market comparable
to one of the larger countries in the EU CO2 market,
or 4% of U.S. annual GHG emissions.
CCX
is operated by the public company Climate Exchange
PLC, which also owns the European Climate Exchange.[1]
Richard Sandor, creator of the Sustainable Performance
Group, founded the exchange and has been a spokesman
for it. The exchange trades in emissions of six
gases: Carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide,
sulfur hexafluoride, perfluorocarbons and hydrofluorocarbons.
CCX started trading in October 2003, prior to
the commencement of trading in the European Union
through the ETS system.
The
Carbon Sequestration Atlas of the United States
and Canada details some of CCX's activity in various
regions of North America. For instance, the Big
Sky Carbon Sequestration Partnership reports that
to date, the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) has
accepted 5,388 CO2-eq metric tons (5,939 CO2-eq
tons) of forestry-based carbon credits in the
pilot tribal portfolio. The projects are now undergoing
third-party verification in preparation for listing
on the CCX. An additional 2,000 CO2-eq metric
tons (2,200 CO2-eq tons) is now under development
with the Navajo nation. For the private/state
lands portfolio, NCOC has obtained listing agreements
for 19 cropland sequestration projects in north-central
Montana with a total of 7,587 CO2-eq metric tons
(8,363 CO2-eq tons).
Components
of the Trading System
The
Trading System has the following three parts.
1. The Trading Platform is a marketplace for executing
trades among Registry Account Holders. For instance,
National Farmers Union’s Carbon Credit Program
is a multi-state program that allows farmers and
landowners to earn income by storing carbon in
their soil through no-till crop production and
longterm grass seeding practices. Farmers Union
has earned approval from the Chicago Climate Exchange
to aggregate carbon credits. Farmers Union is
enrolling producer areas of carbon into blocks
of credits that will be traded on the Exchange,
much like other agricultural commodities are traded.
2. The Clearing and Settlement Platform processes
all transaction information.
3. The Registry is the official database for Carbon
Financial Instruments owned by Registry Account
Holders. (Credit:
Wikipedia)
Website
Chicago
Climate Exchange
Profiles
Carbon
Trading
Eco
Business
Disclaimer:
Chicago Climate Exchange is not a client of Mediaman
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