Go Carbon Neutral
Many Oregon businesses are choosing to do more than reduce their carbon impacts – they are going “carbon neutral” by “offsetting” their carbon impacts. To do this, a company purchases offsets that are used to finance the avoidance or sequestration of an equal amount of emissions somewhere else. Offsets are the last step taken after a business does all it can to eliminate its own greenhouse gas emissions.
Step 1. Calculate Your Carbon Emissions
The first step in going carbon neutral is to calculate your baseline emissions to find out where you are starting. Measuring emissions has additional benefits – since it is only a matter of time before carbon emissions will be regulated, measuring emissions now will help you anticipate and manage the impacts of future regulations.
The Climate Registry uses transparent standards for businesses and governments to calculate, verify and publicly report their carbon footprints in a single, unified registry.
Climatebiz and the Global Environmental Management Initiative also provide useful resources on measuring emissions.
Step 2. Report and Verify Your Emissions
One valuable aspect of these measuring tools is that they apply common standards similar to financial accounting standards. Likewise, companies can gain added value by reporting on their emissions and having them independently verified. This allows companies to publicly demonstrate that they are meeting their emissions reductions objectives, and to establish verified emissions baselines that can be used in future emissions trading markets.
Many companies choose to report on their emissions through an established, third-party registry. Registries can increase the credibility of a company’s emissions statements and help the company garner public recognition for the good work it is doing to reduce emissions.
The US Department of Energy manages an emissions reporting program called the Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Program. This program enables companies to establish a public record of their emissions reductions or sequestrations.
Step 3. Purchase Verified, High Quality Offsets
To ensure that offsets truly reduce emissions, they must be of verifiably high quality. Dubious accounting, weak standards and unscrupulous practices of some providers have eroded public confidence in the offset markets. The best offsets are those that are measurable, verifiable and permanent, where emissions have not already been reduced and the reductions would not have occurred without the project. The Gold Standard Foundation has developed a best practice Gold Standard for carbon credits which result in a genuine reduction in CO2 emissions.
Tufts Climate Initiative, Business for Social Responsibility, [PDF] and Climate BizClean Air-Cool Planet [PDF: 1.3 MB] has evaluated and ranked retail offset providers and provide consumers with excellent information on how to select a reputable offset provider.
One of the highest ranked offset providers, Climate Trust, is based right here in Oregon and focuses on offset projects in our state. It has provided financing to a number of offset projects including industrial energy efficiency upgrades, wind development, and lumber mill cogeneration.
Another new Oregon offset program is Smart Energy, provided by NW Natural for their business and residential customers. Smart Energy, in partnership with Climate Trust, funds biogas projects on regional dairy farms.
Purchasing offsets locally is another way that Oregon businesses can contribute to the environmental health and economic well-being of our state. It’s a win-win for Oregon!
