"New outlines of a hotly debated carbon credit initiative involving the U.S. government and two major philanthropies are raising questions about its ability to generate money while lowering emissions.

Those come as the program’s organizers seem to disagree about whether it is, in fact, a carbon offsets program.

New details of the plan came to light when the State Department, Rockefeller Foundation and the Bezos Earth Fund released a set of principles last week showing that corporations are expected to finance the initiative’s efforts to replace fossil fuel-fired electricity with renewable energy in developing countries.

The proposal, known as the Energy Transition Accelerator, would generate carbon credits to be purchased by companies and financial institutions that are trying to reduce their carbon footprint. A group of at least 20 business leaders, U.N. officials, climate advocates and financial experts will help design the program over the next 10 months. It is expected to be formally launched at the Dubai, United Arab Emirates, climate talks kicking off in November."

Jean Chemnick and Sara Schonhardt report for E&E News January 23, 2023. [2]