Every time you drive, take a flight, use electricity or gas (use of any fossil fuels) you contribute to the increase of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere, causing global warming, in turn causing climate change.
A carbon offset is a carbon credit for CO2 emission that can be purchased. For example, for every tonne of CO2 a party produces, funding of a project somewhere else in the world could save one tonne - this is referred to as an offset.
The purpose of a carbon offset is to neutralise or zero the net CO2 emissions of unavoidable human activity, through the systematic reduction of the emissions or the re-absorption of CO2 emissions generated. The reduction of carbon dioxide/ greenhouse gases is designed to lower the impact of global warming and help combat climate change.
Example
- There is a company, Company X, which is calculated to emit a certain amount of CO2 over a specific period, which it cannot naturally reduce
- There is a community which uses diesel generators to pump their water causing 1000 tonnes of CO2 to be emitted into the earth's atmosphere
- There is a project which could substitute foot pumps for the diesel generators, but has no funding
Solution
- Company X, among others, provides the necessary funding for the project via a Carbon Offsetting programme
- The project progresses to a conclusion
- 1000 tonnes of CO2 are no longer being emitted into the earth's atmosphere
In this example, Company X's funding can either be fully self-financed (a direct contribution) or could be part of a sales initiative whereby its customers are invited to add a little extra to the price of each purchase, in much the same way as many charities raise finance.
In this way, orgainsations and individuals can be said to have reduced their CO2 emissions through recognised projects.
Regulations have been implemented for certain companies of a certain size to reduce and offset their emissions and more and more businesses and individuals are choosing to offset their emissions via carbon reduction projects globally.
Carbon offsetting is the fastest method in reducing carbon dioxide emissions globally and helps create employment and improve education, surroundings and community development in developing countries wherever the project takes place.
CARBON OFFSETTING STANDARDS
To ensure the carbon offsets are of quality, a number of standards and verification processes have been established. These are the most common:
- Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS)
- Gold Standard (GS)
- Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
- Climate Certified (CC)
Each one these standards represent specific requirement for the type of offset and they ensure that the carbon reduction they generate are measurable, permanent and additional.
Pure Carbon Zero guarantees that any one of these standards are met by all of its projects, including Kyoto protocol emissions reduction projects. Each project is independently verified and validated to ensure that the carbon credits are genuine. Once the carbon credits have been purchased we ensure that they are retired, avoiding any double counting of credits.
For businesses looking at offsetting over 3000tonnes CO2, we can provide a tailored project type based around their business requirements.
Once you have offset your carbon emissions we will issue an official certificate detailing the amount of CO2 that has been offset.
Carbon dioxide is measured and sold by the tonne (tCO2).
