The municipality of Landgraaf in the Netherlands has signed a contract with Essent to offset natural gas emissions with Gold Standard VER Certificates. Landgraaf is the first municipality in the Netherlands to sign a carbon credit deal with Essent. Essent won the tender by offering the best price and most sustainable approach.

Landgraaf will use the Gold Standard certificates to offset CO2 emissions from their natural gas consumption. Natural gas is used mainly to heat the town hall and other municipal buildings.

“By purchasing Gold Standard Voluntary Emission Rights we stimulate the development of renewable energy and offset our CO2 emissions,” said Alderman Freed Janssen. “This is a fantastic result and we hope that other municipalities and companies will follow our example.”

Essent will offset the CO2 emissions from Landgraaf with credits from the unique Mamak landfill gas recovery project in Turkey. By choosing Gold Standard Certificates, the municipality of Landgraaf not only offsets its carbon emissions, but also contributes to other future sustainable energy projects.

Landgraaf is the first municipality in the Netherlands to buy Gold Standard VERs and, as such, is also the first to meet the requirements of The Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment. The ministry has recently drawn up stringent sustainability guidelines and the Gold Standard is the only recognised CO2 compensation scheme to meet their criteria.

Gold Standard

The Gold Standard is an independent label and was co-founded by the World Wildlife Fund (WFF). Projects carrying the Gold Standard label can only be validated by independent, accredited organisations under the UN Climate Convention. Gold Standard credits reflect environmental quality, sustainable development and a sound investment in climate policy.