A new study from carbon rating agency BeZero Carbon has found that almost 200 million carbon credits which are already available on the market could be eligible to be purchased by airlines under the first phase of the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), which runs until 2026.
However, the research has found that airlines run the risk of procuring credits with a low likelihood of delivering their carbon claims, as the quality of eligible credits varies significantly.
“The CORSIA market has the potential to finance significant climate action and deliver additional benefits like poverty reduction and biodiversity gains,” said Sebastien Cross, chief innovation officer and co-founder of BeZero Carbon. “But as our research shows, the performance of carbon credits varies including those eligible for the CORSIA scheme. Independent ratings are essential to enabling airlines to understand and manage this risk,” he added.
Of the 200 million credits available that may be eligible for the scheme, BeZero finds that credits range in quality from ‘A’ which BeZero’s third-highest rating to ‘D’, the lowest rating. The largest number of credits available is concentrated in BeZero’s B-rated band, its third-lowest rating.
Based on current demand, airlines may need to purchase around 100 million credits to meet their climate change obligations.