Qatar-based Global Carbon Council (GCC), an initiative of Gulf Organisation for Research & Development (GORD) and the first and only global voluntary greenhouse gas (GHG) offsetting program of the Mena region, has recently received its full approval from the United Nation’s International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA).
With expectation to issue more than 10 million carbon credits in 2021, GCC is listed among eight international programmes that are eligible to supply carbon credits to international airlines to meet their carbon neutral growth.
Across the world, carbon markets are gaining traction. By issuing carbon credits, GCC is assisting international organisations to offset unavoidable carbon emissions while also supporting the development of emission reduction projects and catalysing climate actions.
This approval recognises that GCC’s regulatory framework has all elements in place which assure real, additional and permanent emission reductions resulting from the projects it registered.
It also confirms that the Approved Carbon Credits (ACCs) issued by GCC are highly credible and environmentally integral, while assuring that ACCs can be safely used by international airlines to meet their commitment of carbon neutral growth under CORSIA and by other organisations to meet their commitment for carbon neutrality of their products, services, events and activities.
With full approval, GCC, which was established in 2016 and operational since 2019, is now listed among eight international programs that are eligible to supply carbon credits to international airlines to meet their carbon neutral growth. It is important to note that GCC, based in Qatar, is one of the two CORSIA-eligible international GHG programs that are headquartered in developing countries.
President of GCC, Dr. Yousef Alhorr, said: “Global Carbon Council, which originated from Mena region, aims to provide carbon market instrument to serve global stakeholders in meeting their commitment for the zero-carbon world. Sustainable development and do-no-harm to society and environment are the core principles of GCC in issuing CORSIAeligible carbon credits, with equal focus on avoidance of any overlap with national mitigation efforts to meet Paris agreement targets.
CORSIA’s approval demonstrates that within short time since its launch, GCC has been able to reach the mark of quality and environmental integrity expected from offsets to aid the efforts of carbon neutrality around the world.”
The GCC programme also provides labels for the organisations’ contribution to sustainable development goals and no harm to society and environment. GCC has complete regulatory framework in place and has already received submission of several GHG reduction projects from Turkey, India and Jamaica, which, if registered, will be collectively capable of reducing 28 million tonnes of CO2 in 10 years.
There are also several projects considering submission from several other countries including Qatar, Oman, Serbia, Pakistan, and others. Interest has also been expressed by project developers from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Spain, China, Belgium, Canada, USA, and others
