Carbon Offsets
Industry RE is an independent leader in high-quality carbon credits. We help our clients work out their carbon footprint, identify carbon reduction strategies and then support them to compensate (offset) their impact. More and more businesses are starting to think about carbon sequestration of the excess carbon that they cannot reduce. We can help our clients to become carbon neutral with a bespoke plan that matches their needs. This will include investing in projects around the world that save the emissions of, or absorbs, an equivalent amount of CO2. Through this process, they balance off their unavoidable carbon emissions and become carbon neutral.
How do I offset my carbon emissions?
Offsetting your carbon emissions couldn’t be easier. Industry RE will work with your team through each of the steps to calculate your carbon footprint. Once this information has been verified and audited by our team we can then provide a range of projects that you can invest in to offset the final emission figure. Once complete, you will receive a certificate for your credits, which can be shown to stakeholders and employees.
Our project in Brazil
We are currently supporting and investing in a Platinum Carbon Credit Project in the Rondonia State of Brazil. The project area covers 10,000 hectares of primary Brazilian rainforest, and is to be undertaken in the REDD category and then upgraded to Carbco’s new Platinum Standard Voluntary Carbon Accreditation.
The area contains 4,300 hectares of land with a current mining licence for the extraction of gold. Together with infrastructure, this mining would destroy much more than the 4,300 hectares because of the ancillary slash and burn tendencies in the region, which leads to widespread deforestation. In addition, gold extraction activity is associated with serious environmental contamination. With revenue from carbon credits, it will be possible to secure a far greater degree of protection for this tract of primary forest, and provide the environment and local communities with social benefits. To protect the forest’s bio-diversity, the project intends that the forest should remain as primary forest with zero harvesting of timber, other than the occasional removal of individual trees by forest dwelling tribal people using traditional methods for their essential needs.
By generating revenue from this standing forest, the financial incentive for illegal deforestation or for unsustainable harvesting in the area will be countered. The revenue will empower the local community with sufficient resources to assist the project partners in protecting the forest against destruction. The project hopes to reduce the net carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere and create a more bio-diverse environment for local people. The project will be managed for the benefit of both locals and the global community. In addition to tackling these concerns, local poverty will be addressed, and considerable funds placed in trust to allow opportunities for local personal development and health.
As an additional level of accreditation to demonstrate benefit to the community and bio-diversity, we will be seeking at least equivalent status to the Climate Community and Biodiversity (CCB) Gold Standard. This is in keeping with the ethical standards of the organisation and is a prudent measure to obtain the best possible price for these Platinum Standard Voluntary Carbon Credits.
By applying the Carbco Platinum Standard, the project will ensure significant benefit to local people and to the host nation, Brazil. By alleviating poverty in the region, locals no longer have an incentive to damage or destroy the forest we need to protect. Local participation in the planning, implementation, and protection of the project is vital to the smooth progression and ultimate success of the project.
Who buys carbon credits?
There are two markets for carbon offsets: compliance and voluntary. In the compliance market, companies, governments, or other entities buy carbon offsets in order to comply with regulations on the total amount of carbon dioxide they are allowed to emit. In the voluntary market, individuals, companies, or governments purchase carbon offsets to mitigate their own greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, electricity use, and other sources.
Those buying voluntary credits to offset their emissions are generally buying because they want to practice good sustainability and corporate social responsibility. The next most common reason for purchases in this market is as a pre-compliance buy (those buying in anticipation of regulation). Other buyers are purchasing offsets to improve the reputation of their brand, gain competitive advantage and to take action on greenhouse gas emissions to address the threat of climate change.
For some companies or individuals. reducing emissions can be extremely difficult, impossible or not economically viable. Purchasing credits earned from a verified emission reduction project can help to offset such emissions and in turn, the revenue earned from the sale of those credits helps to fund that emission reduction project.