New York - The largest publicly announced transaction of carbon offsets was recently made in the United States, signifying confidence in the role of carbon offsets in the country’s carbon market according to the parties involved.

The Goldman Sachs Group, Blue Source and CE2 Carbon Capital completed a $12 million carbon offset deal, where CE2, a carbon market investment company, was sold the carbon offsets.

Carbon offsets are financial instruments which allow its owners to offset their greenhouse gas emission reduction based on metric tons of carbon dioxide.

The offsets were supposed to have been generated from Blue Source’s forestry, landfill gas and coal mine methane projects in the United States, which underwent quality standards.

The offsets in the transaction also included credits generated from the Alligator River Forestry Project in North Carolina, the first project located outside the state of California to be listed by the Climate Action Reserve which ensures standards for such projects.

New York-based Goldman Sachs structured and marketed the carbon offset products, which were then sold to CE2, one of the largest investors in carbon commodities and emission reduction projects in the United States.

All parties agreed that the landmark deal signified the growing confidence in the regulated carbon market in the United States.

“This is a continuing signal both to offset purchasers and potential project owners that capital is moving, and there is a high degree of confidence that investment returns can be achieved today,” said Greg Spencer, president of Blue Source.

“This transaction also expands the U.S. carbon offset market by better defining transaction structure and value, enabling capital to flow more freely,” added Greg Arnold, president of CE2 Carbon Capital.

The United States aims to achieve emission reductions through state, regional and federal cap-and-trade programs.

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