“We have been approached by some interested parties in the US,” said Markus Hüwener, CEO of First Climate, formed recently through the merger of Germany’s 3C and Switzerland’s Factor Consulting + Management.

Hüwener said the fund would be marketed to two kinds of buyers: companies that are likely to face obligations in future regional and federal US cap-and-trade schemes, and offset service providers.

First Climate will begin raising capital into the fund “very soon”. Hüwener said those parties that had already shown interest would contribute around $20-25 million, but the fund could potentially reach $100 million.

The structure of the as yet unnamed fund is close to being finalised and is likely to aim at buying mainly domestic offsets but with some VERs from overseas projects and CERs. This combination is essential to meet the needs of both kinds of buyers and to minimise the risk that some kinds of credits may be ineligible for future cap-and-trade schemes.

Given the lack of clarity on which kinds of projects will be eligible under future mandatory schemes, the VERs will need to be from the highest quality projects, Hüwener said, namely those with high additionality, social and sustainability criteria. In terms of standards, the VERs will need to meet the Voluntary Carbon Standard, or higher, he said.

First Climate is likely to source at least some of the credits internally. The firm has a team developing projects that produce CERs and VERs and will work with partners to develop VER projects in the US.