Carbon Offsetting (Climate Contribution): A short guide
Introduction
To bring clarity to these important questions and offer a thorough understanding of climate contribution, ClimateSeed has created a concise guide that showcases the proactive steps companies and organizations can take to make a meaningful impact towards achieving global net-zero emissions.
What is carbon offsetting?
It is important to underline that carbon offsetting must always be combined with emission reduction practices for it to be a viable and effective measure. According to the Science-based Targets initiative’s (SBTi) most recent report, compensation and neutralization measures (carbon offsetting) play a critical role in accelerating the transition to net-zero emissions at the global level, but “they do not replace the need to reduce value-chain emissions in line with science” (5).
The report notes that reduction efforts may not be sufficient to meet the 1.5°C target set by the Paris Agreement due to residual emissions (emissions that companies cannot reduce due to technical or economic constraints). Carbon offsetting is therefore one of the necessary steps to achieve global net-zero emissions. The following sections outline the various measures that organisations or individuals should take to minimize their impact on the planet and contribute to global carbon neutrality.
For more information on carbon offsetting versus climate contribution, please click here.
How can organizations contribute to global carbon neutrality?
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Forestry and Land Use: projects encompass a range of initiatives focused on sustainable management and utilization of forests and land resources.
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Renewable Energy: energy that is natural and self-replenishing. These are energies that are alternatives to fossil fuel electricity and heat production.
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Household and Community Devices: centers around benefiting local communities, using their knowledge and having them involved in the decision making processes.
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Blue Carbon: refer to Wetlands Restoration and Conservation (WRC) projects dedicated to protecting, rehabilitating, and conserving wetland ecosystems, including marshes, swamps, peatlands, and other ocean and coastal ecosystems.
- Waste Management: projects focus on how we handle waste to minimize its impact on the environment and on human health. Instead of treating waste as the last part of the production chain, these projects are working with the waste to create sources of energy, reduce pollution and reduce carbon emissions. These projects adopt a more circular approach to climate solutions.
- Agricultural Land Management: involves removing carbon from the atmosphere and sequestering it in the soil. Plants and crops make up part of the carbon cycle as they use CO2 from the air during photosynthesis. When the plants and crops decompose, some of the CO2 is stored in the ground and some is released back into the atmosphere.
- Transportation: one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions primarily come from burning fossil fuel for our vehicles, ships, trains and planes.
- Avoid the terminology “carbon offsetting” and favor “climate contribution” instead. The concept of climate contribution is not to compensate for negative emissions, but to contribute to projects that capture or avoid CO2 emissions to accelerate the fight against climate change. Projects supported through climate contributions go beyond carbon absorption or avoidance and achieve other environmental and social impacts that are aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as benefits on health, biodiversity, gender equality, and economic development. The more we contribute to high-quality emission reduction projects, the bigger the positive impact on climate and natural ecosystems.
- Avoid being vague and quantify your impact. Make sure to define the scope (1,2,3) your climate contribution accounts for.
- Refrain from claiming your company to be “carbon neutral” as a universal definition of carbon neutrality at a company level has not been defined yet.
- Disclose the number of credits purchased, in tCO2e, to support an emission reduction project.
- Communicate about your climate action by following ISO 14021.
- Educate and inspire your stakeholders to also support an emission reduction project to generate a larger positive impact.
How should you select a carbon offsetting project?
- Be real: each carbon credit must legitimately measure a tonne of CO2 absorbed or avoided by the project.
- Be measurable: carbon credits must be computed based on robust scientific data and verified methodologies.
- Be additional: “carbon credits must represent emission reductions or removals that would not have otherwise occurred without the added incentive resulting from the carbon market”, as stated in the WWF report.
- Be permanent: the emission reductions represented by the carbon credits cannot be reversed after the issuance of the credit.
- Avoid leakage: generating carbon credits must not generate emissions elsewhere.
- Be monitored, reported, and verified by credible third-party verification systems.
- Comply with social and environmental safeguard: the generation of carbon credits must not violate any law, regulation, or treaty and must meet the international best practice standards for social and environmental safeguard.
- Ensure that the selected projects match your organization’s environmental and social goals. You can rely on experts to select the appropriate projects.
- Ensure that the price margins are clear, and the money you are paying for actually reaches the projects and the local communities.
- Match the project location to where your organization operates or sells its products.
- Match the project typology with your company’s activities or interests.
- Ensure that the project meets the highest quality standards by ensuring that the project is certified by either an international or national standard such as Gold Standard, VCS, Plan Vivo, or Climate Action Reserve.
Conclusions
Sources:
- Selin N.E., “Carbon Offset”, 2011, Encyclopaedia Britannica, available at: https://www.britannica.com/technology/carbon-offset/additional-info
- Bellassen, V. Leguet B., “The emergence of voluntary carbon offsetting” [Research Report], 2007, 36 p. Hal-01190163, available at https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01190163/document
- Carbon Market: Overview- Ecosystem Marketplace available at: https://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com/marketwatch/carbon/
- https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resources/what-does-net-zero-emissions-mean/
- Science-based Targets Initiative, “Foundations for Science-based Net-Zero Target setting in the corporate sector”, 2020, available at: https://sciencebasedtargets.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/foundations-for-net-zero-full-paper.pdf
- https://www.bilans-ges.ademe.fr/fr/accueil/contenu/index/page/art75/siGras/0
- Science-based Target Initiative , “SBTi Criteria and Recommendations”, 2020, available at: https://sciencebasedtargets.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/SBTi-criteria.pdf
- Science-based Target Initiative , “SBTi Criteria and Recommendations”, 2020, available at: https://sciencebasedtargets.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/SBTi-criteria.pdf
- “WWF position and guidance on voluntary purchases of carbon credits”, October 2019, available at: https://c402277.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/publications/1310/files/original/WWF_position_and_guidance_on_corporate_use_of_voluntary_carbon_credits_EXTERNAL_VERSION_11_October_2019_v1.2.pdf?1591194127
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