This introductory panel will give an introduction to the size and shape of the voluntary market, and the opportunities that abound this exciting arena.

• What, where and how big is the market?
• Role and functionality of the market
• Size and growth of the market
• Regulatory context in which it sits

Guy Turner, Director, New Carbon Finance
Shelagh Whitley, Voluntary Asset Origination and Placement, Commercial Division, Camco
Additional speakers to be announced

According to a recent survey, 2007 was the ‘Year of the Standard’. Suppliers embraced the idea of the standard as a way to demonstrate credibility and legitimacy, but many companies still find the fragmented market a complex arena. 2007 saw the emergence of several new standards, but how has the situation developed on the ground in 2008? This interactive panel discussion will examine the range of standards on offer and how they are being received in the market place.

• How are people responding to the standards?
• Have they achieved what they set out to do??
• Have they created credibility in the market?
• Just how effective are they at adding value to offset projects?
• Is the range of standards a good thing?
• Are we moving towards one uniform standard?

Mark Kenber, Policy Director, The Climate Group
Jonathan Shopley, Executive Director, The Carbon Neutral Company
A representative, DEFRA
Jasmine Hyman, Marketing Director, The Gold Standard
Kirsty Clough, Climate Change Policy Officer, WWF

The green marketing revolution is driving the voluntary market, and the number of European buyers is growing. How can you communicate your actions to reach consumers and profit from your green initiatives?

• How do we reach consumers?
• What do you need to bear in mind when making statements about ‘carbon neutrality’?
• Which avenues of communication work best in the green arena?
• What are the key considerations to bear in mind when publicising your actions?
• How effective are carbon labelling or trade marks?
• What factors does a consumer take into account when purchasing offsets?
• Why are businesses purchasing offsets?

Robert Rabinowitz, Director, European Climate Exchange
Stephen Phillips, Managing Partner, Spring Research
Lisa Ashford, Associate Director, Head of Commercialisation, Europe, EcoSecurities
Mallen Baker, Director, Business Respect
David Willans, Head of Strategy, Futerra
Harry Morrison, General Manager, the Carbon Trust Standard

Over the past 2 years hundreds of organisations from a range of industries and sectors have announced initiatives to offset their emissions, go ‘carbon neutral’, or provide services for their consumers to do so. This series of case studies will examine the experiences of a range of companies, how their programmes were received, key success points and barriers, and lessons learned.

Chris Shearlock, Environment Manager, The Co-operative Group
Peter Krahenbuhl, Vice President, Sustainable Travel International
Bryony Worthington, Founder, Sandbag
Jochen Gassner, Director Climate Neutral Division, First Climate

Transparency of the voluntary carbon market goes hand in hand with its credibility. Once a carbon credit has been deemed ‘credible’ it is important to be able to track its life from creation to retirement, in order to avoid things like double counting and to prove a credit’s existence. Numerous registries, platforms and other tracking mechanisms have been set up to increase the robustness of the market, and this panel will examine how successful they’ve been.

• Are registries & exchanges building a robust infrastructure?
• How do they bring consumer confidence and integrity to the market?
• Does the plethora of registries mean double counting is a problem?
• Exploring the need for linking registries
• Legal aspects of VERs
• VER pricing trends
• What factors go into VER pricing?

Charlotte Streck, Director, Climate Focus
Kate Hamilton, Carbon Project Manager, Ecosystem Marketplace
A representative, APX
Additional speakers to be announced

This panel will examine how the offset project market is developing, areas of growth, the types of projects which are being developed and considerations to bear in mind when creating a carbon offset project.

• Considerations to bear in mind when creating sellable offsets
• Project aggregation & the role of project portfolios
• Trends in project type: which are most popular and why?
• International vs. domestic projects: do consumers prefer local projects?
• Why is the share of forestry and land use VERs down?
• Does the voluntary carbon market really promote sustainable forestry?
• Can the voluntary carbon market be linked to the biodiversity market?

Steven Panfil, Carbon Projects Director, Climate, Community & Biodiversity Alliance
Simon Petley, Chief Executive Officer, Enviromarket
Amit Oza, Emissions Broker, TFS
Natalia Gorina, Emissions Portfolio Manager, Essent Trading
Max Horstink, Business Development Manager, OneCarbon

The latest figures signal that 2008 will see even bigger growth in the voluntary offset market. But how will this growth take shape and what does the longer term future of the market look set to hold? This panel will discuss the opportunities and barriers that look to affect the market over the next few years.

• How does the market look set to develop into 2009 and beyond?
• Where are the biggest opportunities in terms of project development?
• How can allowances in cap-and-trade schemes be used for offsetting purposes?
• What is the approach of governments to voluntary actors?

Mike Mason, Managing Director, ClimateCare
Dan Lewer, Founder, Carbon Retirement Ltd
Additional speakers to be announced

First Climate presents a pre-conference workshop:
Measuring your Carbon Footprint: Calculating  Emissions from Business Operations

• Carbon Footprinting in the Context of Strategic Carbon Management
• Status of the Standardisation Debate
• Technical Aspects of Carbon Footprinting
• Tools to Support Carbon Footprinting
• Best Practice Examples