APX has announced that the company has been selected as the exclusive solution provider by the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) Association, a leading international standards organization, to develop and manage their centralized carbon project offset program and database.

The VCS provides quality assurance for the world's carbon markets through its global program for approval of credible voluntary carbon offsets, or Voluntary Carbon Units (VCUs). In 2007, VCUs represented nearly one-third of the global voluntary carbon market, making it the most widely used carbon offset standard.

"The VCS Project Database provides a critical central resource for market participants to supply, find, and buy VCUs, and access all related documentation," said Edwin Aalders, Acting CEO, VCS Association.

"Through its track record, APX has demonstrated its strong technology and service capabilities, which are required to address the data management and transaction needs of carbon markets and financial markets worldwide."

Mark Kenber, Chair of the VCS Association added, "The origination and tracking of the underlying environmental commodities - along with all related documentation and full transparency - form the cornerstone of trust and environmental integrity in the market we serve. So our announcement in selecting a proven and tested leader in this field is an important one."

"We look forward to supporting the goals of the VCS Association to ensure that their environmental commodities are transparent, independently verified, and unique," said Brian Storms, Chairman and CEO of APX. "Our highly secure and scalable market infrastructure enables the VCS Program to further distinguish itself as a highly trusted source for offset credits in the worldwide carbon markets."

The Project Database provides project developers and verifiers with specialized accounts that facilitate VCS project registration, validation, and verification. It also allows public access to approved VCS emission reduction projects, including project documentation, validation and verification reports, and credit issuance and retirement levels. This market infrastructure supports integration with other transaction registries, including a state-of-the-art VCS Registry developed by APX, as well as other financial market systems. In addition, it creates trusted and tradable voluntary offset credits, provides a clear chain of ownership for voluntary offsets that prevents double-counting, and stimulates investments in emissions reductions and low carbon solutions.