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At the end of June 2022, we had a pleasure to participate in an online webinar organised by Netguru, a Polish software development company. During the interview, our experts were asked several questions that we found very in-depth and interesting. This article provides a summary of the subjects and puts together brief answers.
Can offsetting carbon emissions reverse climate change?
The most straightforward answer is: no. Carbon offsetting is neither a silver bullet nor a green patch that will reverse anthropological damage to the atmosphere.
What would halt and reverse it then?
The list of actions humanity needs to undertake would probably be a couple of kilometres long. To put it shortly: we need to remodel how we produce energy, start relying solely on renewables, put biodiversity before profit and cut our emissions to zero.
According to Ember’s report, in 2021, we have produced a record 10% of the world’s total electricity from wind and solar. Clean sources accounted for 38% of the total power supply — even more than coal. These numbers are growing annually but are still far from 100%. Some industries like steel and cement production or transportation services rely heavily on fossil fuels and coal – remodelling them requires inventing new technology, e.g. hydrogen-based solutions.
It won’t happen overnight.
Until we reach the golden 100%, we need to rely on carbon offsetting to balance our influence on the atmosphere. This solution is far from perfect, but it’s by far the best we know.
Carbon offsetting is one of the solutions that humanity has on the table. What are the key barriers to adoption?
Every service, venue, event, and product has a carbon footprint. The only barrier to introducing carbon offsetting is the will to change its impact to positive.
Calculating the carbon footprint is done together with the GHG specialists. The owner of a product or service is only required to provide accurate data such as electricity consumption or materials used and to follow carbon reduction instructions. Carbon offsetting is the last part of the process and the easiest one.
How do you measure if your investment does indeed reduce emissions?
Setting up an agroforestry project requires specific regulations to be fulfilled. Our sequestration project in Belize is conducted following (among others):
– The CSA Standards, the requirements of ISO 14064-3, and the GHG CleanProjects Registry guidelines.
– ISO 14064-2:2019, Greenhouse gases – Part 2: Specification with guidance at the project level for quantification, monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emission reductions or removal enhancements.
Read more about our Belize project here.
If there are so many GHGs, why do we talk of a “carbon” footprint?
There are several ways of mentioning greenhouse gasses. One of the most popular is “carbon footprint” or “CO2e emissions”. We agree that it’s far from accurate, yet it’s a standard everyone follows in the industry.
To be 100% precise, we would need to list all greenhouse gasses, i.e. carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone etc. Also, aerosols, such as black carbon or aviation contrails, contribute to the greenhouse effect, but we don’t usually mention them in the general narration.
As a standard approach, whenever someone mentions “carbon footprint”, it means “carbon dioxide and its equivalents”. CO2e denotes all GHGs and represents the amount of CO2 which would have the same global warming impact.
How can we (really) ensure that the offset we purchase is effective in the long term?
The best way is to research and examine the company providing the offsets. What methodology do they follow? Do they audit their projects?
To ensure the duration and resilience of our project, we have a dedicated team working on the ground daily. This way, we constantly monitor the project and prevent any sickness or fires from damaging the trees.
What happens if a biodiversity offset we purchased dies out (species going extinct), forest burns down, change in land use is reverted to monoculture etc.? How do you smartly do this?
Such questions apply to practically any business in the world. The answer is: to check the company providing the offsets thoroughly. Do they cooperate with academics? Do they follow international standards? Are they third-party audited? What kind of carbon offsets do they provide? Does the project have other benefits than environmental, i.e. social and economic surplus for the local communities? Does it fulfil UN SGDs? Are founders visible and can be held accountable for the project?
With countless examples of improperly run carbon projects or projects that vanished soon after gathering financial support, it’s not surprising that many people are suspicious of sequestration projects.
Yet, we cannot avoid offsetting at the current stage of our transformation to a net-zero society. Ask questions, research and choose the best carbon offsets on the market. A company following international standards and auditing its project with renowned scientists won’t vanish or turn the project into a monoculture.
In the case of TerGo’s Belize project, we started working on the proper insurance even before the start of the carbon offsets sale. The land has been evaluated and insured accordingly. Additionally, we will recalculate the value of insurance every year. We have also analysed the potential risks of reversal (i.e., destruction of the forest) and identified measures to mitigate them.
Should the worst happen and the forest project experiences an unavoidable reversal of carbon reductions and removals, we still have a so-called Buffer Pool. Buffer Pool is a general insurance mechanism against unavoidable reversals for all forest projects registered. In case of a fire or other destruction of the forest, the registry system will be retiring the appropriate number of credits from the Buffer Pool equal to the total amount of carbon that was reversed.
How many methods help us calculate carbon footprint? Is there a possibility of getting one standard?
For the time being, it isn’t easy to set up one international standard. Specialists follow several standards when counting the carbon footprint, such as the GHG Protocol, ISO 14064-1, PAS 2050, and PAS 2060.
When it comes to agroforestry projects, several standards are accepted internationally, such as:
– The CSA Standards, the requirements of ISO 14064-3, and the GHG CleanProjects Registry guidelines.
– ISO 14064-2:2019, Greenhouse gases – Part 2: Specification with guidance at the project level for quantification, monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emission reductions or removal enhancements.
We use both to certify our agroforestry projects (among others).
We are also about to publish our International Forestry Carbon Credit Standard. We hoped to add transparency and accessibility to all entities willing to create a carbon credit project by working on our standard. Whether or not it will become a universal standard depends solely on organizations at the international level.
What if a company wants to offset locally – does it make sense?
Of course, it does! We started our first agroforestry project in Belize to fulfil the climate justice principle. According to it, developed countries need to invest in areas that will benefit from the investments the most, i.e. developing countries.
That doesn’t mean every agroforestry project must be run in a remote area, thousands of kilometres from Europe.
A relatively new concept that can replace offsetting for some companies is insetting. The main idea behind it is that the company can implement some offsetting activities within its own value chain. It has countless benefits! A company reducing and offsetting locally has complete control over the actions and saves money.
Is there any credible certification of nature-based carbon sequestration?
The best way is to follow internationally accepted standards, such as:
– The CSA Standards, the requirements of ISO 14064-3, and the GHG CleanProjects Registry guidelines.
– ISO 14064-2:2019, Greenhouse gases – Part 2: Specification with guidance at the project level for quantification, monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emission reductions or removal enhancements.
In just a few days, we will publish our standard that will add accessibility and creditability to the existing certification systems. Watch our LinkedIn profile for more information!
