Conference Agenda

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May 1 (Day 1) — Morning

Setting the Stage for Voluntary Environmental Markets:

• What are voluntary environmental credit markets?
• How are these markets different?
• What commodities are being traded?
• Who participates in these voluntary markets and why?

Trading Strategies:
Paying for Projects With Voluntary Commitments

The Quality Challenge: Are All Credits Created “Equal”?

• What does quality mean in voluntary markets?
• Technical and policy parameters of credit quality
• Can buyers distinguish quality credits?
• Does quality matter?

Quality and Standards in the Voluntary Carbon Market (panel)

• Defining carbon offsets
• What is “quality” for carbon offsets?
• Where are the quality standards for carbon offsets?
• Does quality matter?

May 1 (Day 1) — Afternoon

Greening Electricity and the Voluntary REC Market (panel)

• What is a REC (renewable energy credit or certificate)?
• What does quality mean in the REC market?
• Does REC quality matter?
• Should RECs serve as carbon offsets?
• RECs vs. RPS compliance?

Who/What Is Shaping the Voluntary Environmental Credit Markets?
(case studies)

• Science & technology?
• Project developers?
• Credit brokers?
• Credit buyers?
• Existing or prospective regulated markets?

May 2 (Day 2) — Morning

What Can Standards Do For the Voluntary Environmental Credit Markets? (panel)

• Do standards protect environmental integrity?
• Do standards influence buyers’ decisions?
• Who should be involved in standard development?
• Voluntary standards and regulated markets.

How Green is Green? (panel)

• When can you claim to be green?
• What values is green a surrogate of?
• How does the press view this?
• Green-washing and backlashes

May 2 (Day 2) — Afternoon

Who Should Be Green? (panel)

• Where is the green market?
• How do we grow the market beyond early-movers?
• What’s the business case for a green market in the mainstream?
• Green consumers? Green retailers?

PRIZE DRAWING

Open Discussion

• What have we learned about voluntary credit markets?
• How can we expand these markets?
• How can we protect these markets?
• Should voluntary markets link to future regulated markets?