Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is a Carbon Footprint and being Carbon Neutral?
What are Carbon Credits/Carbon Offsets?
How can buying carbon offsets help fight climate change?
What impact does deforestation have on climate change?
How can Reforestation help climate change?
Are there issues associated with reforestation as a tool to fight global warming?
What are your Terms and Conditions?
What is a ‘Carbon Footprint’ and being ‘Carbon Neutral’
Carbon footprint refers to the amount of greenhouse gases that are released as a result of one’s lifestyle. One can alter their lifestyle choices in order to reduce their carbon footprint and be personally responsible for the emission of fewer greenhouse gases.
Carbon Neutral refers to the act of offsetting ones remaining carbon footprint (after conservation) in order to affectively achieve a zero carbon footprint. Carbon Neutrality is a valuable term but is often very difficult to achieve in earnest. It is often very difficult to know where one person’s responsibilities ends and another’s begins when discussing emissions. Should the purchaser of an automobile be responsible for the emissions of the mining of the metals to make that car, or should the mining company? This conundrum occurs with every product and service we buy.
Another issue with the term Carbon Neutral is that it has been used in dubious, ”greenwashing” marketing campaigns. These are campaigns that attempt to put a green hue on a company that is not at all green. This can often occur when a company measures their carbon footprint within too small a boundary. They may account for emissions from their company owned buildings but omit emissions that result from their activity but are outsourced to other companies. This can include having another company manufacture part of the finished goods for them, omitting the emissions from shipping, from packaging, etc. This is especially pronounced in companies that outsource most of their supply chain. We believe these types of Carbon Neutral claims are misleading and fraudulent.
It is because of these difficulties that Big Tree prefers to talk about reducing one’s carbon footprint rather than achieving neutrality. We advise our customers and partners to measure what they can and then offset those emissions. Being clear about what is being offset is more important than claiming neutrality.
What are carbon credits/carbon offsets?
Carbon offsets (also known as carbon credits) are a way for individuals or businesses to help solve the problem of climate change once they have done all they can through conservation and efficiency.
When feeling a personal responsibility towards climate change, one should first attempt to reduce their carbon footprint through conservation. This can involve driving less, switching to more energy efficient vehicles or appliances, as well as many other things. Even with the maximum amount of conservation however, it is unlikely that one can achieve having no carbon footprint, or emit no greenhouse gases in their lifestyle. At this point the next thing to do is to offset the remaining greenhouse gas emissions and achieve carbon neutrality. The money one pays to offset one’s remaining emissions goes to projects that need funding in order to prevent the release of greenhouse gases (such as sustainable energy developers and landfill gas capturers) or that remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere (such as reforesters). Greenhouse gases emitted anywhere in the world contribute to global warming and climate change. The opposite is also true, removing or reducing greenhouse gases anywhere helps prevent climate change.
Carbon credits are the ‘currency’ used for offsetting one’s emissions. One carbon credit is equal to one ton of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) greenhouse gas. So, if one’s carbon footprint is the release of fifteen tons CO2e in one year, one can buy 15 carbon credits to offset the emissions for the year in order to achieve carbon neutrality.
I want to calculate my carbon footprint
How can buying carbon offsets help fight climate change?
The buying and selling of carbon offsets has, for one of the first times, given a value to some aspect of the natural world, in this case the global warming potential of a greenhouse gases or CO2 equivalents. This exciting development has given value to clean technology, intact forests, and other beneficial activities or institutions. For example a stand of tropical forest that can contain up to 1200 tons of CO2 per hectare can now generate income by the sale of the carbon offsets should it be protected. This gives money to local populations and gives them incentive to keep the forest intact. It is also financially viable for project developers to launch projects that help prevent the release of greenhouse gases or introduce more efficient stoves to people in developing countries. None of this would have been possible were it not for people being willing to offset their lifestyles and governments being willing to legislate ‘caps’ on emissions and to allow for the trading of CO2 equivalents. That is one way in which carbon offsets can help fight climate change.
In addition:
* Carbon offsets help people become aware of their personal impact and the quantity of greenhouse gases released as a result of their lifestyles.
* Carbon offsetss raise awareness about the climate change and the processes involved.
* Carbon offsets allow people that feel a personal sense of responsibility toward climate change to achieve something specifically related to their impact: a zero carbon footprint.
* WWF, Friends of the Earth (FoE) and Greenpeace issued a joint statement saying that carbon offsets were helpful in encouraging energy efficiency.
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What impact does deforestation have on climate change?
Deforestation is one of the major worldwide sources of greenhouse gases, responsible for up to a quarter of all emissions by some accounts (see below). Trees take in CO2 from the atmosphere when they grow. The carbon from the CO2 is stored within them as part of their biomass. In this way forests become ’sinks’ for CO2. They are a long-term storehouse for CO2. When forests are cut down or burned, the CO2 that the trees took in is released into the atmosphere. Since much of the forest that has been cleared in recent history has been forest for most of human history, the CO2 being released is effectively “new” CO2. Trees can hold so much sequestered CO2 (as much as 1200 tons of sequestered CO2 per hectare (2.47 acres)) that when they are lost, much gets released into the atmosphere.Below from are excerpts from an article published in the British newspaper The Independent (May 14th, 2007). The article summarizes work from the Global Canopy Programme from Oxford, The Stern Report and the McKinsey Report. See the whole article here: http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/deforestation-the-hidden-cause-of-global-warming-448734.html
Figures from the Global Canopy Programme (GCP), summarising the latest findings from the United Nations, and building on estimates contained in the Stern Report, show deforestation accounts for up to 20 percent of global emissions of heat-trapping gases, while transport and industry account for 14 per cent each; and aviation makes up only 3 per cent of the total.
The rampant slashing and burning of tropical forests is second only to the energy sector as a source of greenhouses gases according to report published today by the Oxford-based Global Canopy Programme, an alliance of leading rainforest scientists.
Most people think of forests only in terms of the CO2 they absorb. The rainforests of the Amazon, the Congo basin and Indonesia are thought of as the lungs of the planet. But the destruction of those forests will in the next four years alone, in the words of Sir Nicholas Stern, pump more CO2 into the atmosphere than every flight in the history of aviation to at least 2025.
In the next 24 hours, deforestation will release as much CO2 into the atmosphere as 8 million people flying from London to New York.
The landmark Stern Report last year, and the influential McKinsey Report in January agreed that forests offer the “single largest opportunity for cost-effective and immediate reductions of carbon emissions”.
More than 50 per cent of the life on Earth is in tropical forests, which cover less than 7 per cent of the planet’s surface.
As the GCP’s report concludes: “If we lose forests, we lose the fight against climate change.”
This, directly from the Stern Report:
Curbing deforestation is a highly cost-effective way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and has the potential to offer significant reductions fairly quickly. It also helps preserve biodiversity and protect soil and water quality. Encouraging new forests, and enhancing the potential of soils to store carbon, offer further opportunities to reverse emissions from land use change.
How can reforestation help climate change?
Reforestation offers a unique opportunity to restore some of the forest cover lost to deforestation in recent years. It also offers one of the few ways to actually take CO2 out of the atmosphere, known as sequestration. While it is true that mankind has released too much CO2 into the atmosphere to be able to completely reverse the effects with reforestation, this technique is a valuable weapon in the arsenal available to fight climate change.
Trees as they grow take in (sequester) CO2 from the atmosphere and incorporate the carbon into their structures while releasing oxygen. As the trees grow larger they represent bigger repositories of sequestered CO2. At mature hectare (2.47 acres) of planted trees can, in about 40 years, sequester anywhere from 400-1000 tons of CO2. This is equivalent to the emissions from about one million to 2.5 million miles of driving in a medium sized car. This can represent a lot of CO2 removed from the atmosphere when one reforests hundreds or thousands of hectares.
In addition to this sequestration, reforestation projects are unique in that they offer a host of co-benefits. These include increasing habit for wildlife, protecting water-sheds, preventing flooding, preventing soil erosion, stabilizing local climates and supporting local communities that depend on forests for their livelihood.
Are there issues associated with reforestation as a tool to fight global warming?
In short, yes, but Big Tree Climate Fund addresses them. The primary criticism of reforestation projects as a way to help fight climate change is they are perceived to be a non-permanent solution. This is because the trees that sequester the CO2 might be exposed to some form of disaster, such as fire, that would release the CO2 back into the atmosphere. This is of course a valid concern, but we believe that one, there are ways to address this, and two that it should not prevent people from launching reforestation projects as they have the potential be of great benefit to the world (see How can Reforestation help climate change?).
The primary way to address the issue of impermanence is through the use of buffers. Say a project reforests 1000 hectares of land. A buffer would set aside the carbon credits from 10-50% of the land rendering them unsellable. The buffer size is determined by the third party certifier who assess the risks in the area and determines how big the buffer needs to be to compensate for those risks. So, if consumers buy carbon credits from a tract of land that ends up burning down, there are still unused carbon credits from the buffer to ‘back-up’ the credits that were lost due to the fire.
Other criticisms toward reforestation projects are directed at old and now unpopular methods. Large corporations in the past would attempt to ‘greenwash’ their image by planting huge tracts of land in developing countries with trees in order to offset their pollution. They would not look at the big picture and ended up planting huge mono-cultures (one type tree) of non-native fast growing species in a plantation style. These would hurt local soil conditions, threaten watersheds, and not even provide needed wildlife habitat. In addition these projects would often displace local populations, undermine their rights and when they did employ them, pay them minimal wages.
Big Tree Climate Fund has a completely different idea about how reforestation projects should be done and only supports those that meet our strict standards. We believe in planting native trees in mixed stands. We believe in intimately involving the local population from beginning to end including getting their approval. We believe that when the local population is involved it will help them and help us, by ensuring that the people that live in the area help protect the new forest thereby securing it’s future. Involvement means skills training in forestry management, tourism and other related areas. Money that is generated from the sale of carbon credits can then go directly to the communities. This helps increase their incentives to keep the forest intact.
From there, Big Tree Climate Fund wants to take it one step further. We support, suggest, and in our own projects engage in the planting of economically valuable trees among the plantings of mixed indigenous species. These can include some cacao trees, fruit trees, nut trees, etc. Whatever is appropriate to the region and the local economy. This is another benefit we can bring to the community. Once again, if the locals benefit, the reforestation project will succeed.
On top of all this there are third party certification bodies which understand these values and which certify that a project meets strict standards related to the co-benefits. Notable is the CCB standard (Climate, Community, and Biodiversity Standard) which will certify if a project meets their standard for excellence in these areas.
A final criticism of reforestation projects is that they don’t sequester the carbon immediately. While that is not ideal and we’ve grown accustomed to everything now, it is a fact of the natural biological processes involved. The sequestration of CO2 out of the atmosphere into plant and soil matter is a pretty unique process to start with. Humans have not developed anything comparable, and when you factor in the benefits to wildlife and other life sustaining necessities the process is unmatched. In the view of Big Tree Climate Fund the time it takes to sequester the CO2 is small price to pay.In light of these issues and due to the understanding that no type of project can meet every need or accommodate every opinion, Big Tree Climate Fund strives to make available to our customers a diverse portfolio of projects ranging from renewable energy, to fuel switching, reforestation / avoided deforestation and other methodologies.