Carbon Offsetting

Carbon offsetting is the voluntary act of mitigating ("offsetting") greenhouse gas emissions.  It involves making payments that are in proportion to our carbon emissions to projects approved and certified under or according to the Kyoto Mechanism (CDM/ JI). Examples of such projects include renewable energy projects in developing countries such as wind, biomass or hydro power projects.

To make an offset payment, a person or a company needs to know his or her carbon footprint – their CO₂ emission volume in tonnes. Once that emission volume has been ascertained, it is possible to pay a price per tonne of CO₂ to an offsetting institution.

This institution, in return, certifies the activity offset by the individual or company as “carbon neutral”

A well-known example of this is the purchase of carbon offsets to compensate for the greenhouse gas emissions caused by personal air travel.  Many airlines and travel agents now offer a voluntary offset option which enables the traveller to neutralize the impact of their journey.

There is an ever-growing list of companies professing to offer offsetting options, but referring to different quality standards.  One quality aspect is, for example, the inclusion of sustainability criteria. Therefore, for Carbon Challenge, it is crucial to select a credible and experienced offset provider guaranteeing a premium and sustainable offset project.

Carbon Challenge has selected myclimate – The Climate Protection Partnership as their offsetting partners.

myclimate supports offset projects that lead to a direct reduction of greenhouse gases and thus make tangible climate protection possible. The projects achieve their effect through the substitution of fossil fuels with renewable energies or by means of energy efficiency measures (energy saving measures or the use of efficiency technologies).

Offset projects supported by myclimate must satisfy strict project criteria. So in addition to reducing greenhouse gases, they must also make a demonstrably positive contribution to sustainable development and be both ecologically as well as socially compatible. Their international offset project portfolio encompasses projects in developing and emerging countries. that are registered with the Gold Standard or are on the way to Gold Standard registration. The Gold Standard is awarded to CDM and voluntary projects that have higher sustainable development credentials than required by the CDM rules.

For business customers with a large carbon footprint, myclimate offers dedicated and customized solutions. In the process, a portfolio of offset measures is tailored to the customer's needs.

Carbon Challenge was looking for such a project. The project had to satisfy certain criteria to be in line with Carbon Challenge’s mission to inspire the corporate world and making carbon reduction as visible and emotional as possible.  These criteria included:

• Wind Energy only - to be consistent with the wind energy that powers the Carbon Challenge sailing team;
   
• The project should be located in a country which is not a Kyoto protocol signatory. Why? In countries that have signed the Kyoto protocol, the benefits generated by our project would simply be counted amongst already agreed emission reduction targets. Funding a project in non-Kyoto countries results in net contribution to the global carbon emission balance.
   
• Close to Central Europe - Carbon Challenge wants its team and partners, and anyone interested, to understand an offset project first hand by being able to visit the location.
   
• Relevant size - the project ought to be large enough to allow partners and sponsors of Carbon Challenge to buy offsets at myclimate that also contribute to Carbon Challenge’s offset project, and therefore to the mission that the partners and sponsors have signed on to.

myclimate located a project into which all offset payments by Carbon Challenge are now invested.