Offset what?
First Carbon Offset Information Sheet | Second Carbon Offset Information Sheet
Second Carbon Offset Information Sheet
Selecting an Offset Provider
Last month, we introduced the concept of carbon offsets and carbon neutrality. In short, a carbon offset is purchased by a traveler, so that the amount of CO2 generated during travel can be equally reduced in the environment by an offset provider. In essence, you are paying a company to remove the amount of CO2 you have generated in your activity. Travel is expected to be the largest contributor to the carbon footprint of the SETAC meeting: For example, a ton of CO2 is emitted when you travel 2,000 miles in an airplane.
As the meeting registration time gets closer, we want to have our members to help us select reputable offset providers. Meeting attendees will then have an option to sign up for a carbon offset from one of these providers when they register for the meeting. Our goal is to identify the up to three offset providers that SETAC meeting attendees would be the most enthusiastic and supportive of using. This will help us neutralize the carbon footprint of our travel to and from the Annual Conference in November.
The table below has several organization profiles. Please select three you feel are organizations you’d like to support. To compile our list of nominees, we have used two recently published studies:
Consumers Guide to Retail Offset Providers: Clean Air—Cool Planet
( www.cleanair-coolplanet.org/ConsumersGuidetoCarbonOffsets.pdf )
Voluntary Offsets for Air-Travel Carbon Emissions: Tuffs Climate Institute ( www.tufts.edu/tie/tci/pdf/TCI_Carbon_Offsets_Paper_Jan31.pdf)
These have helped us evaluate the pros and cons of a number of offset companies to come up with our list of providers. *We have done our best to research the quality of each of the six presented below. As you read through each profile (links are provided), consider the criteria shown in the sidebar:
*The organizations highlighted here were deemed to be top performing offset providers by both Tufts Climate Initiative and Clean Air – Cool Planet. The evaluations were based on a set of transparent criteria.
How do I vote?
We ask each of you to vote for your first, second and third choice by completing the survey at
Thanks for taking time to vote!
We appreciate you taking time to consider the pros and cons of each offset organization. We will tabulate the results and determine which three received the most delegate votes. These top three options will appear on each delegate registration form, along with a short description, which will enable delegates to select the organization they would like their money to go towards.
Acknowledgements
This information piece was developed by SC Johnson with support from Five Winds International www.fivewinds.com. SCJ is an active member of Five Winds’ Product Sustainability Roundtable (www.psroundtable.com).
First Carbon Offset Information Sheet
| Travel 2,000 miles in an airplane… |
| Drive 1,350 miles in a large sport utility vehicle… |
| Drive 1,900 miles in a mid-sized car… |
| Drive 6,000 miles in a hybrid gasoline-electric car… |
| Run an average U.S. household for 60 days… |
| Have your computer on for 10,600 hours… |
Source: Clean Air Cool Planet. A Consumer’s Guide to Retail Offset Providers. |
You have probably heard through a colleague, or read stories in the news, about the many organizations striving to “offset their carbon emissions”, “be carbon neutral” or have a “net zero impact”. It seems to be the “in” thing to do right now and many are jumping on the carbon neutral bandwagon. But what does offsetting carbon mean, how do you do it, and why should SETAC try to do this for its annual conference in 2007?
Carbon offsets offer individuals and organizations a way to indirectly reduce the carbon footprint associated with their day to day activities. Everything we do that requires energy as an input - travel for business or pleasure, heat our homes, drive our cars – results in greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. A number of organizations now offer the service of carbon offsetting through activities that reduce their emissions and/or increase their absorption of greenhouse gases vis-à-vis tree planting, renewable energy and energy conservation projects, emissions trading credits, etc. These providers make it easy for people to calculate their total emissions, convert that into ton of CO 2 using a simple online calculator and then purchase the required amount of offsets. Offsetting all of the emissions associated with an individual’s or organization’s activities is referred to as being “carbon neutral”.
Despite the simplicity and popularity of purchasing carbon offsets and becoming carbon neutral, there are two important caveats to be aware of. Carbon offsets should not be anyone’s first course of action when attempting to reduce their carbon footprint and not all carbon offset providers or projects meet the same standard of quality.
First and foremost, individuals and organizations should look for ways to reduce their carbon footprint through direct emissions reduction, purchase of emissions free electricity or other low carbon energy. Carbon offsets should only be considered once efforts to reduce use of energy and reduce the carbon intensity of that energy have been taken (see Figure below).
Source: A Consumers Guide to Retail Carbon Offset Providers. Clean Air – Cool Planet. Page 1. Published Dec 2006.
Carbon offsets have their place in spurring innovation and financing carbon-reducing projects that would otherwise not have happened. They are especially appropriate for offsetting emissions that are somewhat unavoidable, for example the emissions associated with business or personal travel. The value of meeting in person and learning from peers and colleagues cannot be replaced.
Because of this, SETAC will be offering delegates the option to purchase carbon offsets for travel to its annual conference. This is an appropriate use for carbon offsets and we have decided to adopt a carbon offset process. [sidebar]. We are also encouraging delegates who live and work relatively close to Milwaukee, to take the train rather than flying to this year’s conference.
The other issue with the burgeoning carbon offset industry is the lack of monitoring or certification of offset companies to ensure they are doing what they say they are doing and charging a fair price for their efforts. Recently, two organizations attempted to evaluate a number of existing offset providers according to a clear set of criteria. The results of their evaluations, published in Dec 2006 and January 2007, provide important context about what we should all be looking for in a reputable offset provider.
Two studies evaluating existing offset providers
- Consumer’s Guide to Retail Carbon Offset Providers: Clean Air – Cool Planet
www.cleanair-coolplanet.org/ConsumersGuidetoCarbonOffsets.pdf
- Voluntary Offsets for Air-Travel Carbon Emissions – Evaluations and Recommendations of Voluntary Offset Providers: Tufts Climate Initiative
www.tufts.edu/tie/tci/pdf/TCI_Carbon_Offsets_Paper_Jan31.pdf
We encourage you to take a look at these studies, and will be referring to them in our next communication on this topic in May. We will be outlining the activities of five credible offset providers and asking delegates to consider a number of criteria and vote for their preferred options. After tabulating the results of the initial vote, delegates will be given options on their registration form for offsetting the carbon emissions associated with their travel to and from the November conference.
Reducing the carbon footprint of our Annual Conference is only one of the initiatives we are taking to make the conference more sustainable this year. Stay tuned for more information on our other activities!
1Voluntary Offsets for Air Travel Carbon Emissions: Evaluations and Recommendations of Voluntary Offset Companies. Tufts Climate Initiative. Published Jan 2007.
Acknowledgements
This information piece was developed by SC Johnson with support from Five Winds International www.fivewinds.com. SCJ is an active member of Five Winds’ Product Sustainability Roundtable (www.psroundtable.com).
