An Introduction to GEMCo

The effort to limit greenhouse gas emissions has emerged as both a major political and environmental challenge for all national and constituent governments and as a pressing economic factor for Canadian industry.  The Greenhouse Emissions Management Consortium ("GEMCo") is a not-for profit Canadian corporation formed by companies that wish to demonstrate industry leadership in developing voluntary and market-based approaches to greenhouse gas emissions management.

GEMCo was established in 1996 by Canadian energy companies that had been loosely collaborating since early 1995. These companies have included in their corporate environmental management strategy consideration of investment in greenhouse gas ("GHG") emission offsets. These offsets include emission reductions, emission avoidance and carbon sequestration activities that typically take place outside their normal operations.

GEMCo’s primary mandate is to develop investment opportunities for its members to convert environmental challenges into potential sources of competitive advantage.

GEMCo’s membership incorporates both potential investors in and providers of projects with high GHG emission mitigation potential, and includes: New Brunswick Power, SaskPower,  and TransCanada Corporation.  

GEMCo operates as a proactive consortium. Its activities are focused on:

identifying and engaging in the development of offset projects
demonstrating the role of offset investments and emission reduction credit-trading as foundations for least-cost GHG management solutions
establishing formal commercial mechanisms for offset or emission reduction credit recognition, trading and "credit-banking"
assisting members develop their internal capacity to identify and secure reductions and offsets for their own use
representing members in the development of Canadian greenhouse gas offset investment, credit-banking and trading policies