*Since the date of this news item’s publication, the organization ‘The International REC Standard Foundation’ has changed to ‘The International Tracking Standard Foundation: Founder of I-REC (I-TRACK Foundation).’

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has published an article on the European Union’s carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), highlighting not only the attention that the CBAM has garnered worldwide, but the scrutiny it is receiving from EU and international trade partners and citing the I-REC Standard Foundation (I-REC Standard) and our concerns around the current country and sectoral embedded emissions calculations.

“As proposed, the CBAM would treat products from firms using a higher ratio of renewable energy the same as firms using energy with significantly higher emissions. This national sectoral average approach ultimately results in firms paying twice: once for renewable energy and a second time for CBAM fees.”

The I-REC Standard Foundation has proposed potential means of solving this issue: through greater granularity in renewable energy procurement and traceability and the role that energy attribute certificates (EACs) can play in promoting greater transparency and accountability within renewable energy markets.

For more information on this subject, contact the I-REC Standard secretariat at secretariat@irecstandard.org.