Markit, a leading, global financial information services company, and Brasil Mata Viva, a Brazilian standards framework for certifying carbon credits from avoided deforestation and Reduced Emission from Deforestation and Degradation (“REDD”), today announced an alliance with a new environmental market in the Brazilian State of Goiás.
The market is being developed with the coordination of the consulting firm IMEI Consultoria e Treinamento Ltda (IMEI) and Bolsa de Títulos e Ativos Ambientais do Brasil (BTAAB - Environmental Bonds and Assets Exchange of Brazil), a Goiânia-based financial exchange for the trading of environmental-related credits. IMEI and BTAAB have selected Markit’s Environmental Registry as the registry system for carbon credits resulting from the State’s projects of avoided deforestation and REDD.
The listed credits will be created and validated in Brazil under the standards framework established by IMEI and BTAAB known as Brasil Mata Viva. Markit will provide the secure online registry facility for the efficient and transparent issuance of credits, as well as ownership transfer and retirement certification. The robust offering provided by Markit’s global environmental registry will help facilitate the sale and ongoing success of the Brasil Mata Viva Credits.
Maria Tereza Umbelino, Executive Director of IMEI, Consultoria e Treinamento Ltda, said: “This new alliance with Markit will provide credibility to the environmental assets created by the Brasil Mata Viva Program. Markit’s secure and transparent credit registry will faciliate the provision of and access to reliable information about the credits available to the market.”
Ary Santos, Superintendent of the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) and a representative of the Ministry of Environment in the Brazilian State of Goiás, said: “Brasil Mata Viva has been working in cooperation with and along the guidelines required by the State’s forestry conservation and restoration program under our coordination (Prolegal). We support their work with Markit’s internationally recognized carbon registry and the transparency they bring to this program.”
Today, 13 million Pending Issuance Units (PIUs), which will be validated according to the Brasil Mata Viva standards framework, will be issued on Markit’s Environmental PIU Registry. PIUs represent a contractual right to an emission reduction credit that is in process of being verified. Large scale projects, particularly those related to REDD, can take long periods of time to generate their issued credits. The market uses PIUs to facilitate the sale and management of expected credits. These 13 million PIUs represent the saving or replacement of approximately 40,000 hectares of forest and managed lands in the state of Goiás.
Helen Robinson, Managing Director of Markit’s Environmental Registry, added: “The development of the Brasil Mata Viva Program and the creation of an exchange on which to buy and sell these carbon credits, confirms the commitment of Brazil in its focus on reducing emissions. Forestry preservation and restoration is a key focus in climate discussions and Markit is pleased to support this innovative program designed to protect Brazilian forests.”