Ert, Niagara Mohawk & Suncor Agree To Track & Report Greenhouse Gases

The Environmental Resources Trust (ERT) announced today that it has entered into agreements with Syracuse- based Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation and Calgary-based Suncor Energy Inc. to provide comprehensive reporting and tracking of each company’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and GHG reductions portfolio. The ERT announcement comes on the same day that Niagara Mohawk and Suncor are announcing an innovative agreement to trade GHG emissions reductions.

ERT, a not-for-profit organization, was founded in 1996 with the assistance of the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) to promote, support and carry out pioneering transactions - such as the sale and purchase of pollution reductions - that produce net environmental benefits. Under the agreements announced today, ERT will work with both companies to develop a comprehensive system for validating, reporting and tracking their GHG emissions and emissions reductions. ERT will receive surplus GHG reductions from the companies, which ERT will hold indefinitely

“Coming just after the historic Kyoto climate agreement to limit GHG emissions, these companies are offering an actual example of international GHG emissions reduction trading — one of the most critical elements of the climate agreement, yet one that is not widely understood in many quarters. Thanks to this trade, Niagara Mohawk and Suncor are offering the world an opportunity for learning by doing. At the same time, Niagara Mohawk is earning an economic return on its forward-looking environmental investment and Suncor is acquiring GHG emission reductions that it hopes to use to offset its own emissions while carrying out its strategic business plan. This is the kind of climate-friendly business deal that the market-based principles of the Kyoto agreement will encourage,” said ERT board member Daniel J. Dudek, who is also a senior economist at EDF.

“Today’s announcement illustrates ERT’s mission of harnessing the power of environmental markets to create environmental benefits. By setting up a comprehensive system for tracking Niagara Mohawk and Suncor GHG emissions and reductions, ERT will ensure that the companies are accountable for their GHG emissions performance both overall and in connection with their GHG emissions trading transactions. In so doing, ERT will provide a public service and make it easier for these companies and others to reap the environmental and economic benefits of a GHG emissions reduction trading market,” said Joseph Goffman, also a board member of ERT, and an EDF senior attorney.

Suncor today announced its commitment to purchase carbon dioxide emissions reductions from Niagara Mohawk that will result, in part, from the utility’s new renewable energy initiatives including development of wind, solar and biomass energy resources.