A stunning collection of 32 riders performing amazing tricks while slicing through rugged terrain across North America and Europe, Burton’s recent film One World is an epic celebration of snowboarding.
As a top sustainable brand and one whose customers rely on a healthy, healthy environment to follow their dreams, Burton knew that creating a great film wasn’t enough. It also wanted to lessen the environmental impact of all flights, snowmobile rides, and other emission sources associated with producing the film. As a recognized B Corporation, the company has a track record of advocating for climate change policies and lessening the impact of its products and operations.
In the course of One World, Burton worked in partnership with Bank of the West to minimize the impact of the production on the climate through the purchase of carbon offsets, an approach that is widely used to help companies and other businesses work to mitigate their environmental footprints. Burton and Bank of the West collaborated to help sequester 563 tons of carbon dioxide through the support of an effort to protect forests on the Alaskan coast. It’s equivalent to taking 122 automobiles from the road for a year.
Emily Foster, Burton’s environmental impact manager, says the company’s decision-making in this instance was a mix of idealism and practicality.
“We look forward to the day when people can explore the world and follow their passions powered entirely through clean energy. However, we’re not there yet as a society,” Foster explains. “For emissions we aren’t able to eliminate now, we invest in high-quality, verified carbon credits which reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect ecosystems. Carbon offsets may not be the solution, we employ them to keep us accountable and to take action while new low-carbon options are developed.”
Carbon offsets, as Foster refers to is not the best solution, but they’re useful as the world moves out of fossil fuels. It is impossible for society to simply turn off the lights and go away from fossil fuels immediately. In the meantime carbon offsets are an important part of the equation as environmentally conscious and forward-thinking actors strive to build the foundation for a sustainable future.
Here we’ll take a closer review of carbon offsets, what they are, why they’re important, arguments for their use, as well as some of the arguments against carbon offsets.
What Is Carbon Offsetting?
Carbon offset is a method whereby funds are redirected to projects that help reduce global emissions. Businesses or individuals often purchase carbon offsets instead of reducing their carbon footprints, in situations where carbon emissions seem inevitable, or they do both to make their emission reduction efforts increase.
Carbon offset projects consist of efficient cook-stoves in rural villages, bio-gas production from organic matter, and a range of projects aimed at reducing deforestation or regenerating degraded forests.
The process of certifying a project to be eligible for carbon offsets isn’t easy. Carbonbay is engaged in guiding initiatives through the Byzantine array of regulations which have been put in by the U.N.’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) to ensure that not just the emissions reductions are legal, but that there is an existing source of funding for a project such as this. This typically means that they’re different from the norm and have a low chance of success without credits. Emissions reduction credits enable companies to earn compensation for every metric ton of carbon emissions sucked up. They are certified as part of CDM or other respected standards, including The Gold Standard, and the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS).
“Carbon offset … aids environmental projects that don’t have funding by themselves.”
Carbon Offsetting: The Pros of Carbon Offsetting
Carbon offsetting has benefits at both ends: it helps environmental projects who are unable to obtain funding on their own and it gives businesses increased chances to lower the carbon emissions of their operations.
A lot of companies aren’t able to reduce their emissions as much as they’d like to. In some cases, this can be because their footprint is relatively small (e.g. software companies) But they’re looking to expand their reach. Other industries, like heavy equipment, for example, or shipping on oceans, don’t have the low-carbon options to serve their markets in the moment. By helping to fund environmental projects that cut emissions, businesses can make some up for the carbon they aren’t able to eliminate themselves.
While most offset purchases are not required, there are some jurisdictions where offset purchases are required in order to adhere to local regulations and standards to get rid of penalties. This is another benefit to the carbon offset system. It gives regulators a tool to enforce environmental regulations.
Other businesses use offsets in order to prove that all or some portion of their business is “carbon neutral” or even “carbon negative.” This also gives an avenue for them to keep track of their own carbon footprint. A lot of consumers choose to do business with companies that use offsets.
A carbon credit exchange offset programme can provide valuable resources for projects that typically capture carbon through forests and other methods or eliminate emissions, such as renewable energy generation or energy appliances. By focusing on projects that will not attract other forms of funding or be the first of their kind within a specific region or a unique project, they can provide an excellent alternative to traditional financing mechanisms.
Once a successful project is completed through offset, and proven its viability it’s usually simpler for follow-up projects to get funding from different sources.
The results of studies that have been conducted have shown offsetting to be an effective way to reduce greenhouse gases.
Pros and Cons of Carbon Offsetting
Many criticisms have been directed at carbon offsets, as well. Some are philosophical in nature in their criticism of the notion that rich companies can purchase their way out of the carbon market, rather than taking more immediate accountability for their carbon emissions. Some argue that offsets weaken the pressure for more collective actionlike a carbon tax. Do offsets let polluters free of the burden too easily?
Others offer more pragmatic issues:
Some forests protected through offsets were later discovered to have been burned or burned or logged. It is possible that this could be deliberate on the part of the persons receiving offsets.
Are the credit cards really needed and could the work have been completed without credit?
Are carbon measurements accurate, and can the companies that are monitoring them be trusted to perform correct accounting?
What about fraud?
Is global warming taking place too quickly to carbon offsets be helpful?
There are some very legitimate questions here. Although there is no perfect system however, many of these issues have been recognized and addressed when both carbon standards and practices evolve.
Carbon offsets are not designed to replace the direct actions, but instead as a supplement–or in some situations, as the only alternative. The aviation industry employs many offsets, as there is no alternative for commercial aircraft to fly today without fossil fuels. As part of an international program known as CORSIA which will allow them to freeze 2019/2020 emission levels and pledged to offset any rise in emissions after 2021.
Regarding the issue of forests that disappear following the qualification to offset the forest, it issue was addressed in the latest VCS standard. It only allows payment to be made to carbon sequestration by forests that have been completed, such as over the last 10 years. To mitigate further risk, a proportion of funds paid in credits are allocated to “pooled buffers” to protect against unexpected loss, similar to an insurance contract.
Measurement is also evolving. Renewable energy sources are simple to measure, since you only need to take a look at the meter. Forestry and other land-use projects are more difficult however, models are getting better and the use of technologies such as GPS satellite imagery drones are now useful in forming a more detailed view of the amount of carbon is still stored.
How to track and offset Your carbon footprint
Carbon offsetting is common in many companies. Banks are working with tech companies in order to get consumers involved. For instance, Swedish fintech startup Doconomy has joined forces with Finland’s Aland Bank to help regular people comprehend the carbon impact of most purchases.
The Aland Index calculates the carbon footprint of any item being purchased by a buyer using more than 200 parameters. Paula DiPerna, who was responsible for establishing the first global cap and trade mechanism in 2003 calls the index “a game-changer” which converts the intangibles into the form of a dollar. Consumers can then use the dollar value to offset emissions created by the item, making their purchases carbon-neutral.
As per Helena Mueller, head of Aland Index Solutions and co-founder of Doconomy, “the index was designed to create a common language for the climate in all personal finance management, and to establish a valid global standard in addition to giving the world a voice in every pocket and at every point of sale.”
Customers have access to the index via the DO app. It’s currently only available in Sweden and Denmark, however Bank of the West teamed up together with Doconomy and Doconomy to offer it in the US in conjunction with the 1% for Planet account. Planet account. Through the mobile banking application that comes with the app, the Aland Index is applied to transactions to automatically calculate the carbon footprint for purchases made with the percent rate for account. Planet debit card.
“The carbon footprint can be shown in kilograms and/or kilo carbon produced as well as an estimate of the cost to society, i.e. the ‘true price’ of a a service when the negative effects of climate change are considered to be accounted for” states Mueller. “The bank that is, in this case, Bank of the West, has then the choice to assist their customers in understanding the carbon footprint by transaction, by the day or week, month and even the year.”
Armed with this information, individual consumers can take charge of the impact of their actions on their environment. It’s true that there is nothing you can do about the thing you can’t measure.
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