A unique carbon-trading marketplace was launched on Wednesday in which a scientifically certified method is used to quantify the amount of carbon removed from the atmosphere, which can then be traded online.
The project is spearheaded by Finnish clean energy company Fortum, who is also covering the set up costs of the pilot scheme that aims to reverse climate change by accelerating carbon removal from the atmosphere.
'It struck us that still in 2019 many of the available CO2 removal methods are excluded from existing carbon pricing schemes, and that inspired us to establish a parallel voluntary mechanism,' said Marianne Tikkanen, innovation manager at Fortum.
Currently, less than 50% of the carbon emitted annually is absorbed naturally.
Fortum explained that Puro, the initiative supported by 23 companies, which verifies, compares, trades and certifies carbon removals, would use their methodologies in the scheme.
Puro currently has scientific-based quantification methodologies for three long-term carbon removal methods at an industrial scale, and hopes to add more methods as they are developed and approved.
The first auctions in which Puro's carbon removal certificates, given for every verified ton of carbon removed, will be traded in May and June.
By Zeynep Beyza Kilic
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr