For greater detail on the Alberta Offset system please review the Alberta Offsets Guidance Document and the Alberta Verification Guidance Document.

Offsets are one of the mechanisms regulated entities can use to reach compliance under the Specified Gas Emitters Regulation. These offsets must be Alberta based and meet a number of criteria in order to be used to reach compliance. An offset must originate from a voluntary action in a non-regulated sector or operation. Additional criteria include:

• Result from actions taken on or after January 1, 2002;
• Occur on or after January 1, 2002;
• Be real, demonstrable, quantifiable;
• Not be required by law;
• Have clearly established ownership;
• Be counted once for compliance purposes.
• Be verified by a qualified third party; and,
• Have occurred in Alberta.

These are minimum criteria. It is important to note that meeting these criteria does not guarantee that an offset will be eligible for compliance use.

There are four key steps to offset creation. Understanding these steps will lead to an understanding of the Alberta Offset System.

1. Offset Project Plan – includes a description of the baseline and project condition, as well as explicit sub-plans for quantification, monitoring and QA/QC procedures. The quantification protocol to be used for measurement of offsets must be included. A potential buyer will use this plan to help them make decisions on investment. A verifier will use this information to verify against.
   
2. Project Implementation – While underway, it is important for the project developer to follow proposed monitoring plans and implement a data management system. Both investors and verifiers will need this information.
   
3. Project Reporting – a detailed project report should outline the activities of the project, any changes from the initial project plan, methods and calculations for greenhouse gas emission reductions/removals, time period for the report, and any associated documentation and signatures. Central to reporting is the GHG assertion, where the developer makes a claim to a certain number of potential offsets. Verification will be done against this Project Report and the Project Plan, resulting in a Verification Report.
   
4. Offset Submission – Once the Project Report and Verification Report are complete, the Project Developer submits parts of the two reports to the regulated emitter purchasing the offsets. By this time, the GHG assertion in the report and the statement of verification are interlinked and cannot be separated. They are submitted together to Alberta Environment along with the regulated emitter’s Compliance Report to satisfy the emitter’s compliance requirements.

In Alberta, offset credits per se will not be issued by the government. Rather, regulated entities can submit potential offsets and related reports with their annual compliance report under the Specified Gas Emitters Regulation. These reports will be reviewed with the compliance report as a whole and the use of those particular offsets accepted by Alberta Environment or not.