SAN FRANCISCO, CA "“ December 19, 2006 "“ Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) has teamed up with The Ecosystem Marketplace to issue a new report for companies considering the purchase of voluntary offsets for their greenhouse gas emissions. Offsetting Emissions: A Business Brief on the Voluntary Carbon Market offers clear steps that guide early assessments and enable corporate decision makers to become educated consumers in voluntary carbon markets.

According to the report, global carbon markets have doubled in size over the past year. Current estimates place regulated markets at US$21.5 billion and voluntary markets at about US$100 million for the first three quarters of 2006, and the prospects for continued growth in carbon markets are strong. The reason is simple: companies are increasingly entering the voluntary carbon market. American Electric Power, Ford Motor Company, HSBC, Google and DuPont are all engaging in voluntary markets to offset their emissions.

Offsetting Emissions outlines procedures and resources for exploring the range of market opportunities, assessing risks, evaluating costs and sellers, communicating your company’s actions, and more. To download a copy, visit www.bsr.org.

For more information on the voluntary carbon market, read Voluntary Carbon Markets: An International Business Guide to What They Are and How They Work by Ricardo Bayon, Amanda Hawn and Katherine Hamilton (London, UK: Earthscan, 2006), which is available for purchase at shop.earthscan.co.uk . For details about designing corporate climate strategies, refer to BSR’s A Three-Pronged Approach to Corporate Climate Strategy, which can also be downloaded at www.bsr.org.

About BSR

Since 1992, Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) has been providing socially responsible business solutions to many of the world’s leading corporations. Headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in Europe and China, BSR is a nonprofit business association that serves its 250 member companies and other Global 1000 enterprises. Through advisory services, convenings and research, BSR works with corporations and concerned stakeholders of all types to create a more just and sustainable global economy. For more information, visit www.bsr.org.

About the Ecosystem Marketplace

The Ecosystem Marketplace (EM) is the world’s leading source of information on markets and payment schemes for ecosystem services, such as water quality, carbon sequestration and biodiversity. The EM believes that by providing solid and trustworthy information on prices, regulation, science and other market-relevant issues, markets for ecosystem services will one day become a fundamental part of our economic and environmental system, helping give value to environmental services that have, for too long, been taken for granted. For more information, visit www.ecosystemmarketplace.com.

BSR

BSR

Since 1992, Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) has been providing socially responsible business solutions to many of the world's leading corporations. Headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in Europe and China, BSR is a nonprofit business association that serves its 250 member companies and other Global 1000 enterprises. Through advisory services, convenings and research, BSR works with corporations and concerned stakeholders of all types to create a more just and sustainable global economy. For more information, visit www.bsr.org.

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