Credit Registries for Environmental Markets in the Chesapeake Bay

1. Credit Registries for Environmental Markets in the Chesapeake Bay June 2011 Hosted by the World Resources Institute (Multistate Water Quality Trading Platform Project) and the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Markets Team

2. OEM Office of Environmental Markets “We must learn to see the Chesapeake Bay as a whole, as water and watershed and airshed inseparably linked; to see the Bay as a system where forests, fields, and wetlands are every bit as much components of pollution control as sewage treatment plants and sediment fences.” Tom Horton, author of “Turning the Tide”

3. OEM Office of Environmental Markets Executive Order Strategy: 2011 • Establish an Environmental Markets Team (USDA lead). 12 Federal agencies currently engaged. • Address issues related to market infrastructure for the Chesapeake Bay (eligibility baselines, verification protocols, and design of registry for tracking environmental credits) • Assess demand and production of credits; • Develop science-based methods to measure and verify performance. • Evaluate federal agency authorities and roles in environmental markets and ensure unified actions.

4. OEM Office of Environmental Markets Adding to Conservation Approaches

5. OEM Office of Environmental Markets Mikel Bank Eco-Assets, Inc LCE Inc.

6. OEM Office of Environmental Markets What is a credit registry? • A secure, official database that tracks information about environmental benefits generated by conservation actions that may be bought, sold, or traded as credits in a market system.

7. OEM Office of Environmental Markets Buyers Business, sewage plants, cities, developers, private investors Trading Platform Environmental Market Infrastructure Credit Registry Aggregator Landowners (Sellers) Verifier Third party Standards Entity Scientists, NGOs, & government Metrics

8. OEM Office of Environmental Markets How the registry works? • Sellers and buyers create accounts • Sellers register projects • Verification is documented • Certified credits are issued (w/serial #) • Credits transferred to buyer or retired • Reports to account holders and regulators

9. OEM Office of Environmental Markets Role of the registry • Tracking credits • Project listing, issued credits, ownership, customer accounts, life cycle tracking • Supporting the market • Marketing, record of transfer, creating efficiency, prevent over/double selling, help manage risk • Growing the market • Source of market information, transparency, scalability

10. OEM Office of Environmental Markets VCS Registered Projects

11. OEM Office of Environmental Markets Documents

12. OEM Office of Environmental Markets VCS Retired Projects

13. OEM Office of Environmental Markets Key benefits of a Registry • Enable actions on the land to become tangible assets • Ensure Integration and access • Track ownership and documentation • Lower transaction costs • Provide transparency • Connect and validate the marketplace

14. OEM Office of Environmental Markets Used by Market Players Buyers • Treatment Plants • Government • Utilities/Industry • Developers Providers • Farmers • Forest landowners • NGO’s • Municipalities Credit Registry • Market Support • Technical experts • Financial institutions • Small business • Communications • Market Shapers • Regulators • Advocates • Investors • Policy makers

15. OEM Office of Environmental Markets Registry & related efforts in the Chesapeake Bay • WRI’s Nutrient Net • Pennvest & Markit • VA Nutrient Exchange Expansion • EPA Bay TAS • RIBITS • Chesapeake Bay Bank • Other efforts • Conservation Registry • Chesapeake Fund • NRCS Conservation Planning Database • DOT Project Registry • Private Registries