Support climate projects
Water Access · PROJECT TOGO
The work on site continues
Forests must be protected and developed. People need access to water, education, and reliable income opportunities. Renewable energies, more efficient technologies, and resilient ecosystems require funding.
These tasks do not lose their importance just because an advertising promise disappears. What changes is the classification: a company does not support a project to give a product neutral climate status. It supports a project because it wants to enable something concrete there.
Forest & Biodiversity
Water & Health
Education & Value Creation
Two tasks
01
CCF and PCF make emissions within defined system boundaries visible. This results in targets, priorities and measures for your own reduction efforts.
02
With a voluntary climate contribution, a company supports selected projects outside of its own value chain. The contribution is documented separately from the carbon footprint.
EmpCo and Climate Communication
Not the support. But its context.
The reason: an emission reduction outside the value chain changes neither the manufacture of a product nor its product carbon footprint. However, companies may continue to provide specific information about investments in environmental initiatives – including carbon credit projects.
No more
"Our product is climate-neutral through offsetting."
“The emissions of this product have been offset.”
“The climate contribution reduces the PCF.”
Further options available
State project, measure and region
Document period and contribution
make available evidence accessible
The information is for general guidance and does not replace a legal review of the specific communication.
A new perspective on project support
Not every commitment needs a CO₂ certificate.
In the classic compensation model, the focus was on the tonne of CO₂e: certified emission reductions were acquired and mathematically offset against one's own emissions. This often gave rise to the claim of being 'climate neutral'.
If no compensation or neutrality is claimed, the support can follow a different logic. In this case, a tradeable CO₂e unit does not necessarily have to be the focus. Instead, a company can directly finance a specifically described ecological or social measure.
With certificates or directly
Two paths. One shared ambition: to remain comprehensible.
Verified entity
1 t CO₂e
Default · Tab · Decommissioning
Way 1
The company supports a climate protection project for which verified emission reduction units are available.
Project, region and standard
Project number and year
Type and quantity of units
Register entry and decommissioning
The units are not deducted from the CCF or PCF and do not establish a neutral climate status.
Way 2
The company finances a concretely described ecological, social or combined measure. For this, no CO₂ certificates need to be purchased or retired.
Project and concrete measure
Region and period
Amount and purpose of the support
Reports, images and further evidence
A specific CO₂e reduction will not be reported without a robust methodology of our own.
The post
A voluntary climate contribution does not necessarily have to be derived from a CCF or PCF. A fixed annual budget, a multi-year project partnership, or the financing of a specific measure are also possible.
A separately determined CO₂e value can also serve as a mathematical guide. It remains a purely theoretical calculation. It does not imply that a corresponding amount of emissions is reduced, compensated for or assigned to a product.
Comprehensible instead of neutral
Say what you do. And show what it is based on.
The Corporate Engagement Record captures the key details. The information is made digitally accessible via a tracking or network ID.
supported project and type of support
Region, period and date of documentation
Project standard and units or direct measurement
clear separation of product, CCF and PCF
The documentation is not a certification, an award, or a statement on the environmental quality of a product or company.
Proceed
Don't just decide how you support. Decide what for.
Certificate-based
Selected projects with documented standard, registry, and CO₂e units.
Understand your own emissions first?
Are companies allowed to continue supporting climate projects?
Yes. The EmpCo does not ban project support. In a B2C context, it prohibits certain product-related claims if they are based on offsetting and convey a changed climate impact of the product.
Does a supported project have to be certified?
No. Certificates make sense when verified CO₂e units need to be documented. With direct support, the focus can instead be on the measure, the time period, the use of funds, and the available evidence.
Does a climate contribution change the CCF or PCF?
No. Project support is off-balance sheet and is neither deducted nor offset. The reported footprint remains unchanged.
How can a company talk about this?
It is best to be specific: Which project is being supported? Which measure is being funded? Where, when and in what amount? What evidence is available? Statements regarding neutrality, offsetting and product-related reduction should be avoided.
The next step