carbon credits
Introduction
The concept of carbon credits was developed in 1992 as part of the Kyoto Protocol on combatting climate change.
The basic premise is that organisations or individuals should take responsibility for their greenhouse gas emissions. After taking appropriate steps to reduce emissions, a polluter should purchase carbon credits in order to offset their remaining emissions.
These carbon credits are created by other organisations which actively sequester carbon from the atmosphere, whether that be by mechanical or natural means, but most commonly by planting trees.
In most countries this premise has now become enshrined in law and large organisations are legally obliged to measure, report and offset their emissions.
In future years, this legislation is expected to be applied to medium and small organisations, many of whom have chosen to start the process voluntarily, in order to take advantage of a host of very significant upsides.
For individuals the purchasing of carbon credits to offset your lifestyle or specific purchases remains voluntary, but it is becoming increasingly popular for a range of important reasons.
In this section we will explain how carbon credits are created, discuss the dichotomy of profit vs philanthropy and run through the issue of verification.
Carbon credit creation
When a project extracts carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in a measurable way, it is then able to issue carbon credits for that amount, which it can sell to a polluter in order to help them offset their emissions.
Carbon credits can be created by many different types of project.
By far the most common (and arguably still the most effective) method is tree planting, especially in tropical locations where the growth rates are so much faster.
Around the world, soils actually represent an even greater carbon sink than forests, so another important area includes habitat restoration and farmland rehabilitation.
More controversially, it is even possible to create carbon credits by doing nothing. If you own a forest, then preventing it from being cut down can be considered a positive action and carbon credits can be issued. Whilst we understand the urgent need in some countries to incentivise the protection of existing landscapes, we do find ourselves inherently skeptical about this type of carbon credit.
In recent years there have been some very interesting advances in various types of mechanical carbon capture technologies, in which carbon dioxide is actively extracted from the atmosphere and either converted into a stable solid form of carbon or stored deep underground.
Profit vs philanthropy
There are profits to be made from the trading of carbon credits.
Perhaps half of all such projects are set up with the primary intention of making money. Whilst there is nothing fundamentally wrong with that, we tend to be rather skeptical of such operations. In an environment where the quantification of carbon sequestration rates is so difficult, there is huge scope for abuse.
The other 50% of projects are set up by well-intentioned people for a primary purpose other than making money. For example, local people may want to reforest their lands, fishermen may want to restore their coral reefs and farmers may want to reinvigorate their soils. All of these projects have the capability to efficiently sequester carbon, but can also deliver important environmental and social advantages. These are the types of project that we find most attractive and which we like to recommend to our partners.
It’s worth noting that some of these more philanthropic projects are fundamentally less efficient at capturing carbon than others. For example, restoring coral reefs is only about 25% as carbon efficient as planting trees. These projects therefore need to find subscribers who are prepared to purchase more expensive carbon credits, in order to support the ‘greater good’.
Verification
Given the potential for falsification in the carbon credits sector, the United Nations has implemented a global strategy of project verification. However, this only covers the more commercial end of the market.
A certified project (CER) is one which complies to United Nations Kyoto Protocol on the production and sale of carbon credits and is subject to a relatively stringent process of inspection. These projects tend to be more corporate in style and the carbon credits tend to be more expensive. If you are a large company which is obligated to offset your emissions by law, then you have no choice but to purchase this type of credits.
A verified project (VER) is one which has gone through a slightly less rigorous third-party checking process, not bounded by the Kyoto Protocol. These tend to lie somewhere in between the large corporate CER projects and the small personable NER projects.
An unverified project (NER) is one which has not gone through a formal checking process and primarily sells itself on its inherent integrity. These tend to be more personable, passion-driven, philanthropic projects and the carbon credits tend to be lower cost.
For a small or medium-sized company, which is not obliged by law to offset its emissions, we usually recommend NER projects, where we look to deliver an attractive blend of competence, transparency, efficiency, authenticity and value.
The purchasing of CER and VER credits is also very much possible and can be more desirable under certain circumstances.
Fraud
Fraud is a powerful word, but one that we feel obligated to use, given the poor practise that is so widespread in the world of carbon credits.
The two main issues are the potential for gross overstatements of your carbon footprints, combined with corresponding overstatements of the efficacies of various carbon credit projects.
We have included a large section on this subject on our page entitled Tripwires and a further section on the page entitled Planting trees, which we strongly recommend you read if you are considering purchasing credits from sources other than the ones we have already approved.
Choosing your projects
If you get to the point where you need to purchase some carbon credits, the next step is to choose which projects most appeal to you.
Our usual default option is to recommend our own Karatu Tree Nurseries project in the north of Tanzania, which was the starting point for our whole enterprise and remains at the heart of what we do.
Drawing on our network of long-established contacts from the safari world, we are presently expand our range of projects. There are so many good people out there and so many projects that are worthy of support. One such enterprise, Chole Coral Nurseries, also features here on the website, but there are several others in the pipeline.
One interesting aspect of these new projects is that some are suitable to be supported exclusively by just one partner. If your company would like to join forces with a specific project (such as the restoration of coral reefs along a stretch of coastline, or the reforestation of land owned by a particular village), then we can make that happen. Your modest expenditure on carbon offsetting, can be turned into a really personable philanthropic project, one that should deliver you great personal satisfaction and, potentially, be a powerful tool in your marketing campaigns.
Your choice of carbon credit project is not restricted simply to those that we operate ourselves. We are more than happy to source your offsetting from any project of your choice from around the world. Whether your project is verified or unverified, we will always check them out, so that you can be confident of their integrity.
Other sections …
Next article
Planting trees
In this article we explain why planting trees in such a good method of sequestering carbon and why doing so in the tropics is so much more effective.
Mission
Read about the general concept of climate change, be introduced to some key members of our team and learn about the environmental services that we offer to organisations and individuals.
Business
Discover how your company or organisation can get started with environmental reporting and learn about the enormous advantages of achieving carbon neutral certification.
Personal
Find out how you can calculate your personal carbon footprint by simply segmenting your expenditure into various emissions categories, then purchase offsets to go carbon neutral.
Contact
Whenever you feel that you might like to get started with going carbon neutral, please don’t feel that you have to have all your ducks lined up in a row, simply reach out to us for a friendly chat …