Treasury, other agencies issue voluntary carbon market principles

The Treasury Department and other U.S. agencies announced a coordinated federal policy Tuesday concerning carbon credits and other voluntary incentives to encourage businesses and agriculture to cut their carbon footprints.

Excessive carbon emissions from manufacturing, energy production, and agriculture are behind climate change expected to worsen without stronger interventions. The United States and other nations have adopted a goal of being “net zero” in carbon emissions by 2050.

To move toward that goal, a small slice of U.S. businesses have set their own objectives to reduce or eliminate their carbon emissions by a certain time. Some participate in a voluntary carbon market (VCM) as a path to reach their reduction goals.