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Climate change, is one of the most profound challenges of modern times. So why is it that there is such a serious shortage of greenhouse gas experts, climate-change strategists, and professionals in the field? After all, climate change will certainly affect all of our lifestyles and the way we do business. And while it’s undoubtedly important to develop rigid, international standards for greenhouse gas monitoring and management, it’s equally as important to have skilled workers in place to ensure these standards are put into practice correctly.

The issue of climate change as it relates to the Olympic Games has been largely overshadowed by Beijing’s poor air quality. Understandably, Olympic organizers have had their hands full in an attempt to decrease local pollution and improve local air quality over the short-term, leaving little resources for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This is unfortunate given the scale of GHG emissions associated with the Olympics.

This week we ’ll take a look at three different and equally likely forms of GHG legislation to help your company better understand its possible exposure and risk mitigation strategies. (1) Performance Standards, (2) Carbon Tax, and (3) Cap and Trade.

However, regulating the aggregated emissions at a utility-level makes sense from a regulatory perspective and quantifying indirect greenhouse gas emissions from electricity use makes sense to individual companies because it is so closely tied to cost-saving efforts from energy efficiency projects. This example should start to demonstrate how complicated GHG legislation can become when ownership of emissions is itself a difficult concept to grasp.

GHG management is most often still the domain of environmental professionals, but because GHG emissions may be viewed as potential liabilities, and present financial opportunities for some, in the near future, company executives are increasingly looking for greater visibility into the data.

As the public debate continues on whether greenhouse gases contribute to global warming or whether we are going through a natural cycle, enormous political pressure and investment dollars are streaming into the solutions aspect of the debate. Discussions in North America on environmental policy and economic benefits are steaming ahead at all levels of government and in the corporate board room.Putting the debate aside, creating a carbon market that stimulates activity to address climate change provides everyone an opportunity to participate.

This week let ’s consider the question, “Are offsets inspirational?” Here we examine offsets from the 'innovation' side, and highlight the potential for offset opportunities to motivate the development and widespread adoption of new and cleaner technologies.

In my previous role as Executive Director of LiveNeutral I regularly received emails from friends and colleagues sharing the website or videos developed by the “CheatNeutral” (http://cheatneutral.com/). They asked if I though it somehow damaged or diminished the objective of LiveNeutral which in part promotes the use of carbon offsets as a tool to help prevent catastrophic climate change. This pertains as much to the work of ClimateCHECK as it does to LiveNeutral and is an important concept to consider for those of us in or interested in the carbon markets industry.

As the need for climate change solutions continues to grow, so does the need for properly educated greenhouse gas management and measurement professionals. Universities and colleges are typically the first place one thinks of when they hear “advanced education”; unfortunately, these institutions alone do not currently provide education for the full spectrum of the climate change industry.

Agriculture is a prominent topic in the current policy and market discussions regarding greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation. Crop practices and livestock management are scrutinized for energy intensity and GHG emissions and mitigation potential. Biofuels policies are criticized as a threat to food supplies. Food, the practices providing it, and the countryside from which it comes, continue to gain attention in the ongoing debate concerning economic and environmental sustainability.

The key to ensuring municipal ownership of the GHG reduction is in understanding the types of sources of municipal GHG emissions. Municipal GHG emissions, like those of any other organization, include numerous sources of direct and indirect emissions from within and beyond the geopolitical boundaries of the municipality.

Municipalities and their projects can generate credits in numerous ways, but they need to understand that having a project that reduces GHG emissions is only the first step. To generate credits, a municipality needs also to (1) have clear ownership of the reductions, and (2) be able to account for the emissions in a very detailed and accurate way.