Voluntary emission reductions: VER certificates

RWEST's entry into the international VER trading market opens up new opportunities for companies and investors. Our energy and trading experts know how to find the best routes for creating real contributions towards protecting the climate. As a company, RWE Supply & Trading provides you with access to selected climate protection projects that have been verified and registered in line with long-established standards. You can rely on RWEST as energy trading and consulting experts to deliver a customised VER product solution that best meets your individual needs. Companies acquiring VER certificates via RWEST benefit from the extensive industry network that RWEST has built in the international marketplace. VERs can bridge an important gap in the company-specific corporate sustainability policies of our business customers. These carbon credits make it possible for companies to offset emissions that are difficult to reduce by funding climate protection projects.

Voluntary emission reductions thus cannot replace emission reductions within the company, but together with green energy products they serve to complement a comprehensive net-zero climate strategy.

VER certificates are based on the principle of compensation. A company can offset greenhouse gases it emits in one place somewhere else. This is made possible through the continuously growing number of climate protection projects that are certified accordingly. For a reforestation project in South America, for example, one VER certificate is issued for each tonne of CO₂ that this forest can compensate. The revenue from the certificates is used by the project investor to fund the climate protection project.

All projects and their CO₂-saving volumes are verified according to strict criteria in recognised standards and by neutral auditors. The papers are traded via the international financial markets and trading companies, RWE Supply & Trading being one of them. Buyers, including RWEST's business customers, have exclusive access to the certificates via these channels.. How the VERs are priced depends on various factors, e.g. size of the project, resources and local infrastructure. The more promising, beneficent or influential a project is, the higher the demand for the certificates associated with it, so supply and demand also impact the price. A serial number is issued for every certificate, which is then registered and validated. Furthermore, VER certificates are subject to the principle of additionality, meaning that it has been verified during the certification process that the emissions would not have been saved without the project. The revenues from selling the certificates are thus used for implementing climate protection projects and helping to achieve their targets.

What can you as a VER client expect from RWEST? Together with you we define how much CO₂ compensation is needed and get an overview of your sustainability strategy and measures. Following our company analysis and discussions with you, our experts present you with a shortlist of suitable climate protection projects. RWEST uses its own project portfolio that was assembled according to the strictest criteria for trading VER certificates. This portfolio is of the highest quality, globally diversified and always up to date. If required, it seamlessly integrates into a range of strategic assets made up for PPAs for renewables, customised supply contracts and market access for financial transactions – in RWEST, business clients have a partner for all their needs in this field as we always take a fully comprehensive approach towards our client companies.

In VER trading, business clients at RWEST first of all choose between the areas of avoidance and removal, then between the nature-based, community and renewables project categories. In addition to our own high standards, most of our projects comply with one or more of the 17 UN sustainable development goals (SDGs). 

VER-certified projects are subject to strict rules; compliance is checked according to transparent and binding standards. These standards ensure the social and environmental integrity of the project content. Another reason for the high demand for VER certificates is that users can verify and monitor how much carbon emissions they are actually saving with this product. Due to the growing interest in flexible carbon compensation, the market continues to develop rapidly in this area. The bigger the VER trading market is growing, the more diverse structures and trading options will emerge. Only certificates that have a guaranteed positive effect on reducing emissions, verified by both ourselves and independent third parties, can be traded in collaboration with RWE Supply & Trading.