US climate envoy John Kerry on Sunday outlined the main principles for a “high integrity” carbon offset plan aimed at helping developing countries speed up their energy transitions and next steps including setting up an advisory group.
The Energy Transition Accelerator (ETA), first announced at last year’s COP27 climate conference, is being developed by the United States with the Bezos Earth Fund and the Rockefeller Foundation to raise private capital.
Kerry told the Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi that the aim was to strike credible deals to reduce emissions, stressing that the ETA was not a substitute for other funding sources and would be time-limited.
Acknowledging widespread criticism of voluntary carbon offset schemes, he said, “We believe you can have high-integrity, accountable, transparent credit that will help us put some money on the table.”
