Offsetting is the mechanism through which organisations can take responsibility for carbon emissions generated by their business activities, that are difficult or impossible to avoid. It operates like a seesaw, with our carbon emissions balanced by equivalent emissions reductions delivered by projects in the developing world. We monitor and calculate the emissions and then fund projects around the globe to compensate for this with an equivalent amount of emissions reductions. This balances the global carbon emissions and provides a key source of finance for these projects, which are improving lives alongside cutting carbon.

Climate change is one of the most serious threats facing global society. We all need to make every effort to reduce our carbon footprint as much as we can, and we should offset the emissions we can’t reduce.Offsetting tackles climate change by:

• making real reductions in amounts of CO2 in the atmosphere that would not have happened otherwise;
• providing funds for renewable technologies and energy efficient solutions; and,
• raising awareness of the impact that our lifestyles have on the climate, encouraging us to do more to reduce our carbon footprint.

Carbon markets are governed by the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, international climate legislation which distinguishes between countries that have emission reduction targets, and those that do not.In countries that have climate reduction targets, all emission reductions within that country are counted and claimed by the government. This means that if a carbon offset project operated in that country, its emission reductions would be counted by the government, as well as the organisation that was purchasing its emission reductions.Therefore, carbon reduction projects only occur in countries without a Kyoto protocol emission reduction target. These countries are nearly all in the developing world, as during the Kyoto negotiations it was not seen as justifiable to place carbon reduction targets on their smaller economies.

Yes. Our projects follow the same robust process of design, monitoring and independent verification set down by the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). They also meet a recognised international standard foremission reductions. 

The money spent to offset emissions will support a portfolio of projects around the world that cut global carbon emissions.All the projects are certified to the highest possible standards within the carbon market to ensure that the emissions reductions are real and verified.

Our projects follow the same robust process of design, monitoring and independent verification set down by the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism. This means that carbon reductions are measured against a baseline and independently verified by an international standard for emission reductions.