Carbon offset projects

The climate neutrality mechanism goes back to the Kyoto Protocol (https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/kpger.pdf). According to the definition of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), it defines climate neutrality as follows: If an emission source (e.g. corporate activity) is offset by an emission sink (climate protection project), no additional damage is caused to the climate. We then speak of a term known as “climate neutral”. Source IPCC (https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/chapter/glossary/)

Climate neutrality is an environmental policy goal of not exerting any additional negative influence on the climate through production and consumption. This is based on the assumption that the climate system can buffer a certain level of greenhouse gas emissions without having any significant impact on the climate. However, climate neutral does not mean that no greenhouse gases have been produced or that the company has been able to reduce and avoid them to such an extent that it is emission-free. Products, services or companies can be climate-neutral if the greenhouse gas emissions are offset after calculating the CO2e balance (e.g. according to the GHG Protocol). In addition to voluntary commitment to climate protection, the avoidance or reduction of greenhouse gases is imperative and important, but according to the IPCC it is not a prerequisite for achieving climate neutrality. For more information on what companies contribute to avoiding or reducing CO2e emissions beyond CO2e offsetting, or which system limits have been taken into account for CO2e offsetting, please contact the above-mentioned company itself.

What companies do to avoid or reduce greenhouse gas emissions beyond the pure offsetting of greenhouse gas emissions (according to Kyoto) should be described on the company's website.

Climate-neutral through CO2 offsetting does not mean that no greenhouse gases have been produced, for example in a production process, or that the company has been able to reduce and avoid its greenhouse gas emissions to such an extent that it is emission-free thanks to innovative technology.

Other common terms: CO2 certificates, climate protection certificates, emission certificates. CO2 certificates are generally traded in the unit of 1 ton of CO2e (e=equivalents). Other greenhouse gases that are harmful to the climate, such as methane, are converted into a corresponding quantity of CO₂, known as CO2 equivalents. 1 certificate corresponds to a saving of one tonne of CO2 equivalent through a climate protection project. There are two markets for trading CO2 certificates: the mandatory market at state level and the voluntary market. Independent institutions such as the Gold Standard certify and verify climate protection projects from which certificates are generated.

Voluntary climate protection is about taking responsibility and actively working to protect the climate. And just as everyone is part of the problem, everyone can also be part of the solution.

Voluntary carbon offsetting is a voluntary payment for an additional climate protection measure that saves the amount of greenhouse gas emissions associated with a process at another location. The terms CO2 compensation, offsetting, voluntary compensation or compensation payment are used synonymously in the sense described here.

No. In our view, the costs you pay to offset your CO2 emissions are not donations for climate protection, but represent a sensible investment in a measurable reduction in your CO2 emissions.

No. Particularly in the voluntary offset market, trading in CO2 certificates is the only way to get a certified climate protection project off the ground and finance it over a very long period of time. Certificate buyers, whether companies, organizations or private individuals, therefore make an active and real contribution to climate protection. This clearly has nothing to do with “easing your conscience” or “buying your way out of CO2 sin”. However, if it is the case that you could ease your conscience by offsetting CO2, this option would also be far better than doing nothing.

Sitting out climate problems through ignorance or repression cannot be a solution.It is much better to become aware of your CO2 emissions, for example by calculating your CO2 footprint, to reduce them and ideally to stop them. However, as long as this “shutdown” is not yet possible, CO2 offsetting is the best way to reduce emissions quickly and particularly effectively. This creates time for the development of further innovations or mechanisms in the area of voluntary climate protection. So: YES, it makes sense to know your CO2 footprint - and YES, offsetting CO2 emissions is an investment in the future!

No. If you look at the corporate communications of some companies, you might think that only the “unavoidable” CO2 emissions are allowed to be offset. The prerequisite for offsetting is first to avoid emissions, then to reduce unavoidable CO2 emissions through various efficiency measures and only then to offset the CO2 emissions that cannot be reduced any further. This approach is certainly justified, but inevitably leads to offsetting being relegated to last place in the ranking of climate protection measures. Likewise, the avoidance and reduction measures that have not yet been implemented provide sufficient justification for why a company does not need to offset CO2 emissions for the time being. The approach that only “unavoidable” greenhouse gas emissions should be offset is also a precondition that does not exist. After all, who determines what is avoidable? Is a vacation trip or a car journey avoidable? As this is therefore subjective, there can be no precondition of this kind.

The principle of climate neutrality, as it is applied today in voluntary climate protection, is based on the Kyoto Protocol, which was adopted in 1997. The Kyoto Protocol is an additional protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) with the aim of global climate protection.

The agreement, which came into force in 2005, regulates binding targets for greenhouse gas emissions under international law for the first time. It was defined that emissions that arise in one place can be avoided in another. The trading of emission rights is therefore the central instrument of the Kyoto Protocol.

Let's be honest. We want to protect the climate (and the environment) and curb global warming. But what price are we prepared to pay for this? Are we prepared to make sacrifices to protect our environment and safeguard the future of our children? What are we willing or able to do without? And what does doing without mean on a global level? Will we do without bananas or coffee in future, products that often have to travel a long way to reach the consumer? And what do we say to the bananas, farmers or coffee growers? Perhaps: “Sorry, we are now protecting the climate and we will no longer buy your products!”? In the future, it won't be enough to talk about harmonious, sustainable coffee cultivation with satisfied coffee farmers with beautiful pictures, or to only buy cotton shirts that are somehow certified! No! For each of us, protecting the climate means cutting back, limiting consumption, using things for longer, not flying short distances by plane and making sure that the buildings we live in are energy-optimized. Of course, these points represent a large number of things that we all need to tackle together and, of course, ultimately, individually.

But climate neutrality through carbon offsetting can be a building block that buys us time until we have developed more efficient technologies that emit significantly less CO2 than before or until we have adapted our consumer behavior to the necessities. Perhaps we will then also have a solution to the massive injustice in the world and the unequal distribution of wealth. Solutions against famine and water shortages and against politically motivated wars.