SOCIALCARBON Credits Help the World Bank Group Go Carbon Neutral for Its Internal Operations

SÃO PAULO, Brazil--(Business Wire)-- The Social Carbon Company (SCC), today announced that 206,178 tonnes of Brazilian originated greenhouse gas (GHG) credits verified using the SOCIALCARBON methodology have been successfully delivered to the World Bank Group. This is one of the largest transactions of such credits to date.

The credits were chosen by World Bank Group from seven different emissions suppliers for neutralizing its emissions. The credits have been brokered by international carbon broker CantorCO2e, issued and registered on the Markit Environmental Registry and the VCS Project Database http://vcsprojectdatabase.com.

The emission reductions were generated from renewable biomass projects managed by the Social Carbon Company in eight Brazilian producing plants. A total of 206,178 tonnes of Verified Carbon Units (VCUs) have been successfully verified, coming from fuel switching projects located in Southeast, North and Northeast Brazil. The projects reduce GHG emissions by substituting native wood and fossil fuel with a mix of renewable biomasses, such as sugar cane bagasse, renewable sawdust, açaí pits, rice husk, and other residual biomass to generate thermal energy in industrial processes.

The projects have been developed with VCS 2007.1 standard (Voluntary Carbon Standard www.v-c-s.org ) associated with the SOCIALCARBON (www.socialcarbon.org ) methodology. The projects and their related credits have been validated and verified by an independent third party, the D.O.E. TUV NORD from Germany and monitoring is carried out by the developer team. Currently The Social Carbon Company is managing more than 70 renewable biomass projects in Brazil and is expanding carbon development across Latin America.

Robert Pulley, Director of General Services at the World Bank said, "We at the World Bank Group are working to reduce our environmental footprint by managing energy, water, waste and procurement practices. In 2006 we committed to offsetting those emissions that we cannot reduce ourselves, by investing in emission reduction credits generated by projects in developing countries. These SOCIALCARBON credits also meet our desire to provide social benefits to local communities."

Stefano Merlin, CEO of The Social Carbon Company said, "These emission reduction projects benefit small scale local producers and help these companies to be sustainable from the energy, environmental and social perspective. Bringing small scale carbon projects to the market is a very important achievement and is a fundamental innovation in the carbon market," continued Mr. Merlin. "We are very excited with the possibility of replicating projects that deliver emission reductions and important socio-environmental benefits to the marketplace", concluded Mr. Merlin.

"CantorCO2e is pleased to have played a role bringing these parties together and facilitating the transaction" said CantorCO2e co-CEO Josh Margolis. "It speaks volumes that the World Bank Group selected these particular credits from the millions of tonnes offered to and evaluated by them. The World Bank Group has set an example that other multi-national private and governmental entities can be expected to emulate" concluded Mr. Margolis.

David Antonioli, CEO of the VCS said, "These credits are absolutely fantastic, and really serve to underscore how the VCS and the SOCIALCARBON methodology complement each other. We are delighted that the World Bank has recognized the importance of making sure that they purchase high quality emission reductions, and that they have gone a step beyond carbon to ensure that their investments have a lasting and positive impact on the social fabric that hosted them."

The credits are listed on the TZ1 Markit Registry (now known as Markit Environmental Registry). "The TZ1 Registry is delighted to list these SOCIALCARBON credits which meet the highest carbon markets standards," says Helen Robinson, CEO of TZ1 Registry.

About Social Carbon Company

The Social Carbon Company provides carbon management services to project developers in the Verified Emission Reduction (VER) market and applies SOCIALCARBON methodology to implement carbon emission reduction projects in partnership with project developers. This unique approach to project development and sustainability reduces project risk and add long term sustainability to the projects. The current list of projects includes the switching from non-renewable biomass as a fuel source to renewable biomass sources, energy efficiency, landfill and small-scale hydro-electricity. For more information please visit www.socialcarbon.com

About World Bank Group (WBG)

The World Bank Group comprises five institutions: The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA)), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Each institution specializes in a different aspect of development, but they all have the same goal: a world free of poverty.

These credits have been purchased on behalf of the World Bank Group by IBRD and IFC. IBRD makes loans and grants, and provides analytical and advisory services to middle income countries and creditworthy poorer countries, promoting sustainable development to reduce poverty. IFC fosters sustainable economic growth in developing countries by supporting private sector development, mobilizing private capital, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments.

Projects the WBG has supported help countries to invest in health and education, fight corruption, boost agricultural production, build roads and ports, and protect the environment.

For more information, visit http://www.worldbankgroup.org/

About CantorCO2e

CantorCO2e is a leading global provider of transaction, consulting, and technical services to the environmental and new-energy markets. Operating globally, we help our clients to efficiently manage emissions and to meet evolving compliance and industry standards. CantorCO2e serves environmental credit buyers and sellers in all of the world's principal emissions markets, including the Kyoto markets (CDM, JI and European emissions trading), the US compliance markets, and the voluntary carbon market. CantorCO2e offers transaction services via electronic trading screens, recorded telephone lines, auctions and negotiated contracts. We advise equity investment funds on carbon finance, introduce investors to projects, and structure forward sales to enable project developers to fund their investments. CantorCO2e is headquartered in London and San Francisco and has over 50 emissions trading professionals located in 8 offices worldwide. This global yet local presence, together with the unique experience of our staff, enables CantorCO2e to provide an unparalleled level of service to our clients.

For more information please visit www.cantorco2e.com.

About VCS

Founded by the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA), The Climate Group, and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the VCS provides quality assurance for the worlds carbon markets through a robust global program for approval of credible voluntary carbon offsets, or Voluntary Carbon Units (VCUs). In 2007, VCUs represented approximately one third of the voluntary carbon market, making it the most widely used carbon offset standard.