Carbon Credits or Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) are certificates issued to individuals or legal entities when there is a verified reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. By convention, one metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂eq) corresponds to one carbon credit (MMA, 2017).

Carbon credits are certifications that prove a company, project, or institution has avoided emitting CO₂ over a given period — each carbon credit represents one metric ton of CO₂ not emitted. Credits can be generated, for example, through reforestation or the conservation of forest areas. Once such activities are verified and certified, these credits can be sold to other companies seeking to neutralize or offset their polluting activities, thereby compensating for the environmental impact of their operations.

Gets Ambiental has been developing voluntary carbon credit projects — that is, creating and producing credits for companies interested in purchasing them.

Companies seeking to generate carbon credits can develop projects to compensate for their greenhouse gas emissions. These projects can be annual or long-term, focusing on the preservation of natural grasslands, forests, or reforestation initiatives.

Currently, Gets Ambiental is developing regional-scale projects for carbon credit generation in partnership with international organizations through digital platforms that promote environmental preservation.

How Does the Carbon Market Work?

Each ton of CO₂ equivalent (CO₂e) that is either not emitted or removed from the atmosphere by a developing country can be traded on the global market.

Common Terms

Voluntary Market: The voluntary carbon market is where companies, NGOs, institutions, governments, or even individuals take the initiative to reduce emissions voluntarily.
Carbon credits (or VERs — Verified Emission Reductions) can be generated anywhere in the world and are audited by independent entities outside the UN system.

Key characteristics of voluntary markets:

• Credits do not count toward national emission reduction targets;
• Transactions involve less bureaucracy;
• Projects not recognized by the regulated market, such as REDD, can participate.
• The main voluntary market is the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) in the United States.

Carbon Credit: A tradable unit representing one metric ton of CO₂ equivalent (tCO₂e). The price of this credit fluctuates daily, determined by various external factors, much like a stock market.

Ton of CO₂ Equivalent (tCO₂e): The total amount of greenhouse gases emitted, multiplied by each gas’s global warming potential.

Carbon Market: A regulated trading system managed by the Executive Board of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which allows countries with high emissions to purchase the “surplus” emission quotas from those that emit less CO₂.

Certified Emission Reduction (CER): A unit issued by the CDM Executive Board for each ton of CO₂ reduced or removed from the atmosphere.

Clean Development Mechanism (CDM): Projects that promote economic growth in developing countries while minimizing environmental damage.

Cap and Trade: A model that sets emission limits. Within this framework, high-emission companies buy excess credits from those that emit less, forming the foundation of the carbon market.

Main Greenhouse Gases: Carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O), sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆), and families of gases such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs).

Global Carbon Market Overview

According to Araújo (2006), Article 17 of the Kyoto Protocol established a market for trading the “right to emit GHGs,” with carbon credits serving as the currency of exchange.

Countries that emit more GHGs can purchase credits from those that have reduced their emissions beyond their established targets.

According to the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment (MMA, 2018), developing countries can trade each ton of CO₂eq removed or not emitted on the global carbon market. Since 2005, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) has enabled a large number of such projects in developing nations, effectively launching the carbon credit market — though some skepticism remains about its mechanisms (IPEA, 2018).

To extend the CDM’s benefits into the post-2020 climate framework, Brazil proposed an expanded CDM (“CDM+”) during negotiations leading to the Paris Agreement (2015). Core elements of the Brazilian proposal were incorporated into Article 6, paragraph 4, under the concept of the Sustainable Development Mechanism (SDM) (IPEA, 2018).

In Brazil, according to SEBRAE (2018), certificates are issued when GHG emissions are reduced. These are known as CERs (Certified Emission Reductions) — each equivalent to one ton of CO₂.

Calculating Carbon Credits

The reduction of GHG emissions is measured in metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO₂eq). Each ton of CO₂eq reduced or removed from the atmosphere corresponds to one Certified Emission Reduction (CER) issued by the CDM Executive Board.

Each ton of CO₂eq equals one carbon credit. The CDM’s purpose is to allow each ton of CO₂eq not emitted or removed by a developing country to be traded internationally through Certified Emission Reduction certificates.

Nations unable or unwilling to reduce their own emissions can purchase CERs from developing countries and use them to meet their obligations.

The Carbon Market in Brazil

Brazil ranks third in the world in the carbon credit market, with 268 projects representing 5% of the global share and an initial goal of absorbing up to 20% of the global market (Brazil, 2018).

“Carbon pricing is an instrument that allows investment to be redirected toward low-carbon projects by incorporating the cost of carbon emissions into financial analysis. Well-designed carbon pricing policies stimulate innovation and create new forms of economic growth based on carbon-neutral or low-carbon technologies, processes, and services. There is growing consensus among Brazilian business leaders that carbon pricing can drive investment, ensure competitiveness, and foster low-emission technological innovation in the country.” (CEBDS, 2019).

Carbon taxation or emission trading systems are forms of carbon pricing, whether mandatory or voluntary, already implemented in 45 countries and jurisdictions. In mandatory systems, pricing occurs through taxation, trading mechanisms, or a hybrid of both. These models internalize the cost of emissions into corporate financial decisions (CEBDS, 2019).

Carbon Sequestration

Our Solutions
In South America and Brazil, we are developing large-scale opportunities to generate carbon credits from native and conserved forests, with unique social, economic, and long-term climate benefits.

Services Offered:

• Development of Carbon Credit Projects with a full suite of in-house services for certification and additionality verification.
• Carbon credit project management;
• Buying and selling of carbon credit certificates;
• Consulting for partners in carbon credit projects;
• Development of projects for carbon credit generation;
• Forest and flora inventory studies;
• Forest carbon inventory studies;
• Monitoring of existing carbon credit projects;
• Carbon stock analysis and credit production projections;
• Social and economic additionality studies;
• Real-time monitoring.