February 15, 2024

How do I Select the Most Impactful Carbon Offsetting Projects to Support?

In its Sustainable Development Goals, the United Nations (UN) believes that carbon emissions affect the atmosphere's balanced nature and speed up climate change. Therefore, focusing on lowering carbon emissions is an important first step for individuals and businesses in their sustainability efforts.

While carbon offsetting is a popular option, there is an overwhelming amount of carbon offsetting projects out there that make it hard to decide which one to go for, requiring a deeper understanding of the effectiveness of the project to make the right decision. In this article, we dive into the world of carbon offsetting projects, explore critical factors to consider, and provide practical steps to help you evaluate and choose projects that align with your sustainability goals.

What is carbon offsetting?

Carbon offsetting is a process that aims to reduce carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere by compensating for an emission made elsewhere. It has always been one of the most criticized actions taken by businesses to reduce their carbon footprint.

Carbon offsetting helps organizations take CO2 out of the atmosphere and store it through carbon offsetting projects to reduce impact. It is a way to neutralize the carbon emission that has already been made or is calculated to be released by the end of a process. However, businesses should be aware that carbon offsetting doesn’t reduce their actual carbon footprint, and it cannot be the only action taken to achieve net zero. Any carbon offsetting attempt is meant to help a brand or business achieve its net zero target.

Given that some of the carbon offsetting projects are used simply as a means of paying for greenhouse gas emissions through carbon markets and trade of carbon, it’s best to be aware of what carbon offsetting offers, and to utilize carbon offsetting as complementary to the impact reduction strategy of your company. Even better is to support any carbon offsetting project with other measures to reduce the actual emissions your business creates.

What should I look for when selecting a carbon offsetting project?

Incorporating carbon offset projects into your net zero emission efforts provides a means of compensating for greenhouse gas emissions. Although we agree that these projects contribute to your business's fight against climate change, there is no golden formula when choosing which one to invest in. From forestry, land and water management to renewable energy, there is a wide range of projects to choose from in the market. Here, we share seven factors to consider when selecting the most impactful carbon offsetting projects to support your business.

1. Define your goals: You must have a clear idea of your business's carbon emission goals and how they fit into your overall sustainability and net zero strategies. Before looking for a carbon offsetting project, define what you want to achieve by supporting one. Check out your options below and ask yourself what your business needs are. This will help clarify your vision as you select projects aligning with your values and priorities. You can:

Offset your business's entire carbon footprint or only a portion of it.
Support certain projects focusing on specific sectors or regions.
Be involved in projects with other significant environmental and social impacts besides carbon reduction.

2. Understand the carbon offset project categories: Even though everybody talks about carbon offsetting projects as though only one type exists, you can choose among many projects for your business. To start, there are two main categories of carbon offset projects which are then divided into seven different types. Carbon offsetting projects are categorized according to the stage at which they target the carbon emission. Let's start with the two main categories, avoidance and removal, before moving into the next step of evaluation.

Avoidance projects: As the name suggests, these types of projects aim to avoid and prevent carbon emissions from being released into the atmosphere.
Removal projects: Removal projects target the emissions already released into the atmosphere and aim to reduce the adverse effects by absorbing them.

3. Evaluate the different project types: A general understanding of the carbon offsetting project types helps you make a more informed decision about what kind of project you need for your business. However, it is also essential to consider different project types based on their potential impact and applicability for your company. Falling under avoidance and removal project categories, the seven project types are as follows:

Renewable Energy: Opting for renewable energy alternatives to power infrastructure has a significant impact on reducing carbon emissions and the decarbonization of the local energy grid. This could look like running your office on energy sources that are natural and self-replenishing or choosing alternatives to fossil fuels.
Energy Efficiency: Completely changing the energy sources you use for your business can be challenging and require a considerable investment, however, you can employ energy-saving measures to help reduce carbon emissions, such as creating company-wide energy efficiency policies.
Household and Community: These projects involve local communities in decision-making and use their knowledge to prevent deforestation in regional areas while avoiding GHG emissions.
Ecosystem Restoration: This project type is dedicated to protecting, rehabilitating, and conserving wetland ecosystems including marshes, swamps, peatlands, and other ocean and coastal ecosystems.
Agriculture: Agricultural projects aim to store carbon in soil to restore biodiversity and develop new sources of income for smallholders.
Forestry, Land and Water Management: Aims to protect and encourage sustainable management and utilization of land and water resources.
Waste Management: These landfill projects are designed to capture the methane released from waste disposal, turning it into clean fuel. By managing and turning some of the disposed waste into something useful, the waste management project aims to reduce the negative impact of carbon emissions created by waste disposal.

4. Research and verify project quality and standards: Let's say you have a clear vision and decide on the project you want to invest in. The next step should be a deep dive into the details to ensure that independent third parties verify the project to ensure it meets specific quality, transparency, and accountability standards. Only consider projects certified by reputable organizations with rigorous criteria and methodologies to measure and verify the carbon reduction impact of the projects, as well as their environmental and social co-benefits. These standards ensure that the projects have undergone regular monitoring and reporting of the project performance and outcome. Here is the list of the most common international & national standards that you should look for in any carbon offset project:

5. Assess additionality: Additionality is a critical concept in carbon offsetting, it refers to the contribution and added value of the carbon offset project towards reducing emissions. To prove its additionality, a carbon offset project must financially overcome barriers and challenges without the carbon credits' financial incentive. A precise baseline scenario, a credible counterfactual scenario, and a robust analysis of the barriers and alternatives are three main aspects to assess the additionality of any carbon offset project.

6. Look for transparency and accountability: Involvement in carbon offset projects with no transparency about their emissions reduction and impact can undermine your company's credibility. To avoid this, it is best to invest and be involved in carbon offset projects that provide transparent and accessible information about their operations, have clear ownership, traceable carbon credits, and are registered in a public registry that tracks and records the issuance, transfer, and retirement of the credits. You can ensure project accountability by checking the published annual reports and third-party audits they have undergone.

7. Consider co-benefits: Carbon offsetting projects provide other environmental and social benefits beyond carbon reduction. These co-benefits include but are not limited to biodiversity preservation, community development, and improving access to clean water and energy. Choosing a carbon offsetting project that proves co-benefits enhances your efforts and helps you improve your image while increasing your reputation in stakeholder relationships. However, evaluating the co-benefits of a project is essential to ensure that your company is making a meaningful contribution to society and the environment.

How do I ensure the continuity of carbon-offset projects?

There is no doubt that carbon offset projects help businesses take responsibility for their carbon footprint and allow them to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, selecting practical, verifiable projects that won’t put you and your company at risk is crucial. You can also increase your positive impact by opting for projects with additional environmental or social benefits.

Carbon offsetting is a long journey, rather than a one-time action. Carbon offset projects require regular review, monitoring, evolution and development. Along the way, you and your company might need guidance from experts in climate change and carbon offsets. Based on your specific goals and requirements, you can find valuable insights and recommendations on energy, environment, and carbon on Intengine's website. You can also choose from experts in their areas on Intengine's directory to help you with your net zero and sustainability targets.

Tags: carbon offset, carbon offset project, carbon emissions, carbon, carbon footprint, carbon trade