I-REC Istanbul Meeting was held at Robert College Alumni Association on September 30, 2022. In this event Up-to-date information about ESG, Green Hydrogen, Carbon Removal Projects, and Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism was shared, and Foton ECO Label was launched.

In the first part of the meeting, I-REC Secretary General Jared Braslawsky gave detailed information about Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and the certification process for Green Hydrogen.

The European Union has designed the "Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism" (CBAM) in accordance with the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The CBAM was initially focused on imports of goods that have a high risk of carbon leakage and high carbon emission. The sectors initially included were iron and steel, cement, fertilizer, aluminum, and electricity. However, with the decision taken by the EU parliament on June 22, the sectors were expanded to include organic chemicals, plastics, ammonia, and hydrogen sectors.

CBAM still has not clarified how to manage the carbon emission measurement and the proof processes. I-REC shared the latest developments of its work with the EU in calculating the carbon emission caused by electricity consumption. 

Jared Braslawsky, who drew attention to the competition of the European Union, the United States, and Asian countries on the importance of green hydrogen in energy transition, talked about renewable energy, hydrogen production, carbon reduction and removal, hydrogen cycle and storage, hydrogen transportation and distribution processes in Green Hydrogen supply chain and the necessity of measuring and certifying each process was discussed.

It was emphasized that the most important issue in Green Hydrogen investments is the capital costs and long-term supply agreements. Considering these issues, Evident co-founder Ed Everson stated that countries can use different standards to certify processes in the hydrogen supply chain; he mentioned that the I-REC hydrogen standard and registration systems can cover all kinds of regulations and the user can measure the green hydrogen requirements in the desired country on a single screen.

In the second part of the meeting, Travis Caddy, Associate at Evident, presented the Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) Attribute Tracking Certificate system called C-Capsule which is working in partnership with the I-REC. He underlined that the current carbon offset certificates, which are supported by global companies for their carbon neutral targets, calculate past and avoided carbon emissions that cannot be measured. For this reason, he added that IREC will set the standard for the Carbon Dioxide Removal certificate in which carbon emissions can be physically captured and measured. 

Launch of Foton ECO 

Can Arslan, who made his presentation using the newly launched website of Foton ECO said that Foton ECO audits whether the company's entire electricity procurement is from a renewable energy source and which type of energy attribute certificate they used in their ESG reports and also supports the corporate communication of the companies that obtain Foton ECO Label. 

Foton ECO, which audits renewable energy procurement through its technical committee composed of internationally recognized corporations and professionals, will provide Audit and Corporate Communication services to its member companies.