HOW CARBON OFFSETS WORK
What are certification standards?
What are carbon offsets?
We all emit the pollution that causes climate change. These “greenhouse gases” are created primarily by our use of fossil fuels throughout our daily activities. When we drive, fly, heat our home or use electricity from coal-burning power plants, we are releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and exacerbating climate change. Even after we employ important and NECESSARY conservation and energy efficiency measures, we will still likely be responsible for considerable emissions. Wouldn’t it be great to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem? With carbon offsets, we can be part of the solution and help accelerate the transition to a more efficient use of our resources.
When we purchase carbon offsets the proceeds support projects that remove greenhouse gases (GHGs) from the atmosphere or prevent them from being released in the first place. It works like this: Hillary, after employing all the conservation measures she can, still emits 15 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere every year. She therefore decides to buy 15 tons of Fair Carbon™ offsets from Big Tree Climate Fund. The proceeds from her purchase will fund a project that is dependent on her support. That project removes GHG emissions thus offsetting Hillary’s emissions. She couldn’t eliminate 100% of her emissions so she helped someone else eliminate emissions elsewhere, this helped make up for what she couldn’t reduce. She can now breathe a little easier knowing that she has done all she can to minimize her impact and that her financial support is helping move us toward a greener world and economy. In addition, because she bought Fair Carbon™ offsets with Big Tree Climate Fund, she knows that her purchase is doing more than just fight climate change, it is supporting local communities and environments. With these actions, she has demonstrated her willingness to take responsibility for her impact and has now become a part of accelerating us to a more sustainable future.
What is amazing about carbon offsets is that because of them there now exists a system that gives a monetary value to a projects ability to help prevent climate change. Technologies that are more energy efficient, prevent the release of greenhouse gases, or remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere now have access a revenue stream that allows them to compete in the market or even be viable. In addition, the natural ability of forests and other ecosystems to sequester CO2 also now has a monetary value. In effect, this means that preventing a tract of virgin forest from being logged or cleared can now generate income because tons of greenhouse gases were prevented from being released. The system provides a new source of funds for local populations and gives them an incentive to NOT cut down the trees. Certainly an idea whose time has come.
Thanks to all who support these projects with their purchase of Big Tree Fair Carbon offsets.
How do carbon offsets differ?
Some carbon offsets can be of higher quality than others. It is imperative that high quality offsets are supported. Unfortunately there are too many instances of questionable offsets being sold. The result is wasted money on the part of the consumer, minimal results, a lost opportunity to fight climate change, and a weakening of the integrity of the whole carbon offset system. Quality offsets can be a real benefit to all; low quality offsets are nothing more than a scam.
We recognize this and at Big Tree Climate Fund our primary business model is to provide only the highest quality offsets so there is no question in the consumer’s mind. We go to great lengths to ensure this, use only third party certified offsets, and we provide as much transparency as possible to instill buyers with confidence.
What determines an offset’s quality? Several things:
- The offsets represent actual emissions reductions. They are real. Assurance should be given that this aspect of the offsets is verified by a third party and that they either have occurred or that they will occur under the designed, and approved, project.
- The offsets are measureable. Emissions reductions and sequestration should be measureable using standard and approved techniques and methodologies.
- They must be “additional”. If an offset is additional that means that the money paid by the buyer actually enabled GHGs to be removed from the atmosphere or prevented it from being emitted. If an offset is not additional that means the emission reduction would have happened anyway, without the money that was paid for the offset, and so it doesn’t really represent any additional movement toward solving climate change. When a project is only possible because of the support of people buying carbon offsets then it is additional and the offsets that people buy have a real positive impact on the future of the planet.
- Permanence. Do the carbon offsets permanently remove GHGs from the atmosphere or prevent them from being released in the first place? In the case of reforestation projects, is the project designed well and are adequate buffers and other measures in place to account for the risks of impermanence and to insure the offset is replaced should there be a catastrophe?
- Offsets should be independently verified by a third party to ensure all the above claims are being met.
- Offsets should be unique. Assurance has to be given that an offset was not sold to someone else. No double counting. To prevent this, the offset has to be entered into a registry where it can be tracked and accurately accounted for. Once the offset is purchased by a customer, it should be retired by the registry so it cannot be sold again.
- There should be transparency in the process so the customer can assess for themselves the quality of the offset and what it is actually supporting. As much documentation should be supplied as possible.
- All estimates and calculations along the way should use conservative values to ensure that greenhouse gas reductions are not over-estimated.
- Higher quality projects go beyond simply reducing greenhouse gases. For example, some low-quality reforestation projects do a great job of sequestering CO2 from the atmosphere but have a negative impact on the environment. Sometimes local populations are displaced to make way for the projects, which are planted with a monoculture (one type of tree) of a non-native species. These types of projects can hurt local soil conditions and negatively affect biodiversity. Big Tree Climate Fund does not support such projects. Instead we prefer to offer benefits to the local populations through involvement with our projects, to foster biodiversity with native plantings and protect watersheds and soils. We take a holistic approach to fighting climate change, recognizing that everyone can and must benefit from our efforts. With Fair Carbon™, we go beyond neutral.
What are certification standards?
Standards are a type a certification that can be given to carbon offsets to help ensure certain aspects of quality. They indicate third party oversight. In order to get the stamp of approval from a standard the offset has to meet certain criteria. This helps provide a quality assurance to the purchaser of a carbon offset. The standards represent a starting point of quality for Big Tree Climate Fund. We then assess each project further to ensure it meets OUR standards.
These are the standards we currently use:
· The Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) – http://www.v-c-s.org/
· Social Carbon Standard – http://www.socialcarbon.org/en/default.aspx
This is an informative document comparing some of the different standards: http://assets.panda.org/downloads/vcm_report_final.pdf