Voluntary climate contributions

A voluntary climate contribution is a voluntary financing or support of climate protection measures outside of one's own value chain. It takes place in addition to the measures that a company takes to avoid and reduce its own emissions.

The framework regulates how natureOffice documents voluntary climate contributions and what minimum information is required for a traceable allocation. In particular, it comprises:

For voluntary climate contributions, there is no single, generally binding standard that definitively regulates all issues, from the balance sheet to project quality and corporate communication. The natureOffice framework therefore combines several clearly defined principles:

natureOffice applies the following principles to voluntary climate contributions:

The voluntary climate contribution complements your own climate action. It does not replace it and must not delay it.

Tonnage-based climate contribution The contribution is expressed in tonnes of CO₂e. The prerequisite is that a corresponding number of clearly identifiable emission reduction or removal units has been issued in accordance with the rules of a designated programme and has been allocated to the contribution or retired.

A corporate contribution record can document different reference objects:

A voluntary climate contribution can be aligned with a balanced emission quantity. The underlying value must be clearly designated for this purpose.

The reference quantity is the emission volume on which the level of a tonnage-based contribution is aligned. It remains separate from the actual contribution quantity.

- Accounting or reference period: period in which the underlying emissions or quantities occurred,

A tonnage-based contribution should, where possible, be based on actual, fixed balance sheet or sales volumes.

For a tonne-for-tonne aligned contribution, natureOffice rounds the calculated reference quantity up to the nearest whole tonne of CO₂e.

"Tonne for tonne" describes exclusively the quantitative scaling of the contribution: for each full or started tonne of the designated reference quantity, at least one issued unit of one tonne of CO2e is allocated and retired.

A contribution amount can be assigned to a single project or to multiple projects.

natureOffice only uses units from named programmes with publicly documented rules for project registration, quantification, independent verification, issuance, tracking and retirement for tonne-related climate contributions.

natureOffice aligns its project and unit selection with the following quality criteria:

Depending on the project type and the available documentation, the following information in particular is recorded:

Emission reduction or avoidance units and removal units are based on different impact logics.

An ex-post unit is issued for an emission reduction or carbon dioxide removal that has already occurred, been monitored and been verified according to the programme rules.

The vintage refers to the period in which the underlying emission reduction or carbon dioxide removal was achieved in accordance with the rules of the project programme. It is not to be equated with the year of purchase, retirement, or documentation.

Procurement involves more than just ordering or paying for credits. For a documented tonne-based contribution, the units must be clearly identified and legally and technically available to natureOffice or the intended beneficiary.

Retirement – also referred to as cancellation depending on the registry – permanently removes an issued unit from further transfer and use.

natureOffice distinguishes between a planned, commissioned, and completed retirement.

Double counting can occur in different places. In particular, natureOffice distinguishes between:

Article 6 regulates forms of voluntary cooperation between states and contains requirements for the international transfer and accounting of mitigation outcomes. A so-called corresponding adjustment serves to consistently record certain bilaterally transferred outcomes in national greenhouse gas inventories.

In addition to their greenhouse gas impact, many climate protection projects pursue other social or ecological goals. These can include, for example, health, access to water, education, income, biodiversity or local employment.

Not every meaningful form of project support leads to the issuance of tradable carbon credits. natureOffice can therefore document direct financing or in-kind contributions as an independent form of voluntary climate contribution.

The Corporate Contribution Record – CCR for short – is the concrete, versioned documentation of a voluntary climate contribution and its underlying basis.

The network ID uniquely identifies the organisation within the natureOffice Contribution Network. It can link multiple records and time periods.

natureOffice separates the status of the underlying carbon value, the status of the project units, and the status of the record.

A corporate contribution record is versioned. Changes to essential details are not silently overwritten.

Quality assurance includes – depending on the type of contribution and scope of services – the following checks:

natureOffice natureOffice is – as far as commissioned – responsible for:

The communication specifically describes who supported what, to what extent, over which period, and via which project.

In natureOffice's information-based approach, the mark is not a seal of quality. It serves as a signpost to concrete information.

Standards for greenhouse gas accounting, voluntary carbon markets, project quality, Article 6 transactions and environmental communication continue to evolve. natureOffice therefore reviews this framework regularly and on an ad hoc basis.