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The Carbon Trust Standard will be linked to the government’s new carbon trading scheme – the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC). Participants in the CRC that have achieved the Standard will see a direct financial benefit.

Download our leaflet on the Carbon Trust Standard and the CRC (PDF, 443kb).

The Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC)

The CRC is a new carbon trading scheme developed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) for non-energy intensive organisations. The new scheme will be operational in 2010 and covers electricity and gas consumption. More details are available on the Defra website.

Participation in the scheme is based on electricity consumption in 2008. Organisations with more than 6,000MWh consumption measured through a half hourly electricity meter will be covered by the new scheme.

Participants in the CRC must purchase carbon allowances to cover their emissions. Revenue from the purchased allowances is recycled to participants based on their ranking in the CRC league table.

The league table ranking is based on emissions reduction performance and designated “early action” metrics.

The Carbon Trust Standard and “early action”

Certification against the Carbon Trust Standard is one of two designated early action metrics under the CRC. Organisations which hold a valid Carbon Trust Standard certificate for the CRC period will receive an improved league table ranking.

The CRC league table dictates how much revenue from the sale of carbon allowances is recycled back to CRC participants – the higher the ranking, the higher the recycle rate. So an improved league table performance, due to certification against the Carbon Trust Standard, translates into a direct financial return.