If you’re looking for new ways to make your farm profitable, generating carbon credits from farming has been the go-to solution that farmers opt for.

That’s not surprising given that carbon farming enhances the organic matter content in the soil, minimizes costs, and gives extra income through carbon credits. Not to mention that it may also give farmers access to better financial incentives from banks or institutional investors.

With growing demand from businesses to buy carbon credits from farmers, it is now clear why carbon farming will be the future of agriculture. But some farmers are still in the dark when it comes to agricultural carbon credits.

And so the purpose of this article is to help clarify things by explaining how carbon credits in farming works, why it matters, and what are the key considerations you should make.

How Does Carbon Credits in Farming Work?

But first things first, let’s define what a carbon credit is.

The idea behind carbon credits is that entities responsible for emitting CO2 have to reduce their emissions or pay for the efforts of farmers or others who are doing the work of removing CO2 from the air. The payment is in the form of a carbon credit, with each credit representing one metric ton of carbon reduced or removed.

Crops, grasses and other plants sequester CO2 from the air but they also release it when they decompose. Still, with proper soil carbon capture and farming practices, they can draw down CO2 very well.

Here is how soil captures CO2 in a natural carbon sequestration cycle.

The length of time carbon stays in the soil before going back to the air varies. It depends on several factors such as climate and soil composition.

For example, disrupting the soil structure like converting forestland or grassland to farmland, can speed up the release of the captured carbon.

On the other hand, carbon farming methods like no-till farming and planting cover crops can slow down carbon loss. They can even help increase carbon levels in soil.

Studies show that the past 200 years of agriculture emitted ~100 billion metric tons of CO2 (GtCO2). That’s far way over 3x as much carbon as all human activities released in 2019 – 43.1 GtCO2.

So, where do carbon credits come in?

Carbon credits in farming operate like crops in some ways.

For instance, if you produce soy to sell, the buyer will want to know its quality first. They will weigh your soy and test it for quality before buying it. And only by providing the buyers with important information can you convince them to buy your product.

In the same manner, carbon credits measure and monitor the quantity of carbon sequestered in the farm’s soil and the amount of carbon emissions reduced.

Some farming practices such as regenerative farming give farmers the potential to turn their farms’ ability to sequester carbon into cash with carbon credits.

Specifically, carbon credits are created based on the amount of carbon sequestered by the soil and so represents the emissions reduced above the soil.

Why Do Farming Carbon Credits Matter?

Farmers and ranchers have many opportunities to reduce their own carbon footprint. But in order to meet the global net zero target, 22% of land needs to shift from traditional agricultural production to long-term carbon sequestration or carbon farming.

A range of market mechanisms are necessary to achieve anything near that level of land use change.

Schemes like carbon credits that allow landowners to generate new revenue streams through carbon farming are emerging. There’s also high expectation that private investments in environmental measures that help mitigate climate change will be a significant market.

Farming practices that yield carbon credits offer financial incentives not just to reduce emissions but also create environmental and social co-benefits. They help extend benefits to farmers and society at large.

Financial benefits:

With unpredictable yields caused by climate change, farmers welcome the extra income from carbon credits. More remarkably, the growing demand for credits from carbon farming spurred creation of programs and pledges by giant food retailers and agribusiness.

But it’s crucial that they price carbon higher than implementation costs to attract farmers’ attention. Current carbon prices vary widely, depending on the specific type of farming activity.

Data from S&P Global 2022 below shows carbon sequestration rates for different activities.

Carbon Sequestration Rates – Mt CO2e/ac

Companies, governments, and other entities buy carbon credits for around $15/ton to $20/ton of carbon to offset their emissions.

Over time, we can expect to see carbon prices increase significantly to at least $70/tCO2e. That seems to be a lot of work given the current average of income farmers earn with carbon credits – $15/tCO2e.

But that should be the case if we are to prevent the planet from getting warmer, scientists say so.

Environmental and social co-benefits:

A study shows that farmers had increased attention towards programs that highlighted economic incentives from environmental and social co-benefits.

Carbon credit programs that consider co-benefits help ensure higher adoption rates by farmers. Examples of co-benefits include reduced use of fertilizers and increase in crop yields. Apparently, they’re measurable and quantifiable.

Carbon farming also results in social co-benefits. For instance, there are more seasonal jobs for farmers to do conservation practices.

In other words, farming carbon credits create a new revenue stream for farmers that weren’t there before. This even incentivizes them to transition to sustainable farming practices and adopt regenerative agriculture.

So the biggest winner at the end is the planet as the agriculture sector cut down its GHG emitting activities.

Carbon Credits And Farming: What You Need to Consider

As farmers embrace regenerative farming, their land goes from being a carbon emitter to sequestering carbon. In other words, their farms become a carbon sink which produces carbon credits.

Project developers then bring those credits to carbon markets where they sell them to emitters. They can be a business firm, an organization, or an individual wanting to offset their footprint and support farmers at the same time.

In return, farmers get additional income for each ton of CO2 sequestered by their lands. There’s a catch, though. Some may falsely claim to achieve certain carbon reductions without proper verification.

This is why it’s important that farmers know what to consider to earn carbon credits and what farming practices can give them that. Speaking of, here are the top ways to generate credits from carbon farming.

How do farmers get carbon credits?

Farmers can get carbon credits from any of these five sources:

Agroforestry
Peatland restoration and management
Enhancement of organic carbon content on soils
Nutrient management on cropland and grasslands
Livestock and manure management

For crop growers, in particular, credits are generated by shifting to carbon farming practices that enhance soil health and mitigate climate change by storing carbon in the soils.

On the buyers’ side, companies like Cargill, Shopify, and Microsoft have committed to promoting carbon farming methods that regenerate the soil by buying carbon credits from farmers.

But adopting carbon farming practices is just one step in the process to generate carbon credits. So in the next section, we’re outlining the general steps for you to get started if you want to earn carbon credits on top of your farming income.

Farming And Carbon Credits: How to Get Started

The first thing you should do, of course, is to find the right carbon program.

Finding the right carbon credit farming program

Carbon farming takes full commitment to be successful right from the very beginning. A good place to start is to connect with the right carbon credit program provider with the expertise, tools, and support you need.

The right program helps you to implement farming practices that improve soil health, enhance its carbon sequestration, and reduce carbon emissions. This step often starts with consultations to know expectations.

After you agree to the terms, the provider oversees the next steps to guide you accordingly. There are providers that offer payments right at the start of the program.

Gathering initial farm data

What makes carbon farming different from traditional agriculture is that it’s a science-based approach. It deals with measuring initial data on the farm to know how change can be implemented best with verifiable results.

In the same way, carbon credits must also be based on robust measurement and assessment.

While measurements are done at various stages of farming and carbon credits programs, it usually starts by gathering baseline farm data. These include 3-5 years data on crops, yields, fertilizer rate application, farm practices, and so on. Getting all this data is crucial to know the best carbon farming practices to adopt as well as keep track of the progress to account for carbon credits generated.

Devising a plan

After assessment, together with your provider, you should develop a carbon farming plan. It outlines the practices that will eventually lead to creating carbon credits. Each farm is unique and so must have a custom plan based on baseline data gathered.

Common examples of carbon farming methods that produce carbon credits include any of the following:

Reduced tillage or no-till farming
Growing or increasing cover crops
Reduced fertilizer application
Efficient fuel use
Improved residue management
Prescribed (rotational) grazing
Nitrogen management

Here’s how various carbon farming techniques can slash agriculture’s carbon emissions.

Carbon Farming Practices Projection in Cutting Carbon Emissions by 2050

Implementing practices and verifying results

Each carbon farming practice has different requirements, depending on actual conditions. The baseline data is vital during implementation to review the practices that need improvement or changes.

This is where MRV – measurement, reporting, and verification – are vital in generating carbon credits through farming practices. Without proper MRV, it will be hard to say if there’s real carbon reduction that happens. As such, no verification can take place.

Verifying results can be tricky. The carbon credit program provider or an independent 3rd-party body can perform the verification process. Calculations may include the amount of carbon reductions or removals generated by carbon farming.

Earning carbon credits with farming

After verification comes the generation of carbon credits. Once they’re issued, you can now trade the credits in a carbon market where buyers seek to offset their own emission reduction goals.

Successfully trading carbon credits results in a new revenue stream for you.

Again, it’s worth noting that the prices of carbon credits vary and change. Currently, they trade at as low as $5 to as high as $75. And as companies and their stakeholders opt to invest in sustainable practices, carbon farming gets more attention.

Plus, the carbon credit market is estimated to grow to reach a value of $100 billion a year by 2050.

Carbon Farming Credits

The fact that carbon farming doesn’t only help mitigate the climate crisis but also provides farmers another way to earn via carbon credits makes it an attractive undertaking. Let alone the environmental and social benefits it brings. 

Moreover, some aspects of carbon farming are measurable and adoptable. This makes it possible to monetize the practices through carbon markets. Only via the carbon market mechanisms will major investments be driven into regenerative agricultural practices on a global scale.

But same with carbon credits in other sectors, there must be rigorous standards in place for quantifying, monitoring, and verifying the emissions reductions they promise. That’s the only way that they can be real and impactful in the fight against climate change. 

But the good news is that international carbon certifiers exist to ensure highest standards when it comes to carbon credit measurement and accounting. Verra, Gold Standard, and Climate Action Reserve are some popular names in this space. They’re from the private sector but public programs are also available when dealing with carbon farming credits. 

As long as you know who to partner with, what baseline data to gather, how to plan for the changes your farm needs, and how to implement them properly, you’re good to go. You can turn your farm into a more profitable and climate-friendly endeavor.

The post Carbon Credits Farming (Everything You Need To Know) appeared first on Carbon Credits.

The carbon removal industry now has its own dedicated VC fund called Counteract, which has raised ~$42 million. 

There’s a need to develop novel carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies that are both effective and scalable. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is so clear about that. 

The wave of funding into the sector comes as the IPCC report doubles down on the need to remove billions of tons of CO2 from the air. It stresses that emissions reductions alone aren’t enough. 

The IPCC believes that CDR is necessary to achieve the Paris climate goals as shown in the charts below. CDR includes bioenergy combined with CCUS (BECCS), natural climate solutions (NCS), and direct air carbon capture with storage (DACCS). 

Achieving the Paris Goal with Carbon Removal

The Rise of Carbon Removal Industry

The market for carbon removal is expanding rapidly. Private money came pouring in from big tech companies seeking to help early-stage CDR tech startups scale up and bring costs down.

Five world’s largest firms – Stripe, Alphabet, Meta, Shopify and McKinsey – launched an initiative called Frontier to invest around $1 billion in carbon removal by 2030. Their aim is to help CDR startups scale up and lower the cost of sucking in a ton of CO2 from the air.

Also, government incentives like carbon pricing as well as subsidies make CDR a good business. In fact, a lot of startups emerge in the sector, offering different ways to remove carbon. 

The CDR sector also experienced a strong boost in 2022 alone. It received a whopping $13.8 billion investment globally as reported by Pitchbook. That figure almost broke a record despite the market downturn. 

Counteract: A Special CDR Fund

London-based Counteract is a newly founded venture capital fund solely dedicated to carbon removal technologies. 

In July last year, the UK government had invested £54 million into 15 projects that develop CDR technologies. The funding comes through the BEIS Net Zero Innovation Portfolio.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) also announced the funding of $3.7 billion to help build a commercially viable CDR industry in the country.

Counteract is targeting a total of £35 million or ~$42 million for its inaugural fund. And it just reached a first close of £15 million or ~$18 million. This recent fundraising signals that investors are willing to bet on the emerging and rapidly rising industry of CDR.

There are currently 12 companies under Counteract’s portfolio. The VC fund only has one criterion when investing in companies: the capacity to remove 500 million tonnes of CO2 by 2050. 

Right now, the world is removing only about 2 billion tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere every year. Forests are doing much of the removal work. And climate experts say that the CDR capacity needs to increase by 1,300x by 2050. 

VC funds on climate actions have been pouring in the last year. But only a few have a specific focus as Counteract. The fund’s managing partner, Andrew Shebbeare, said: 

“It might sound like we have a very narrow investment focus because we only invest in carbon removal within climate investing; so we’re a specialist fund within a specialism. But at the same time, we’re also broad in that we invest in all carbon removal pathways.”

Counteract will invest in any form of carbon dioxide removal. E.g. nature-based solutions like forestry, regenerative agriculture, direct air capture (DAC), and biomass.

Alongside the growth of the carbon removal industry are some questions and uncertainties. 

Questions surround the scalability of CDR tech and other things like the biomass supply chain. There are also concerns about market output scalability produced via carbon removal solutions. 

For instance, the fund had invested in a company that produces nickel as a byproduct of its CO2 removal process. In this case, there are concerns about the scalability of the nickel market. 

Counteract also invests in firms working on both credit models where they sell carbon credits equal to a tonne of CO2 removed from the air and business models such as the nickel startup. 

Plans to Expand Outside Europe

Apart from removing CO2, Counteract is also looking for solutions with “co-benefits”. For example, technology that produces cement from recycled carbon is a good solution that permanently captures carbon while helping decarbonize the cement industry at the same time.  

The current portfolio of Counteract will be transferred to the fund. This includes various carbon removal techniques from four different continents, including direct air capture, biomass, forestry, agriculture, mineralization, materials and more.

The fund plans to expand outside Europe and invest globally. Shebbeare acknowledges the fact that the global south offers a better opportunity for CDR. 

Kenya’s Rift Valley, for instance, presents an ideal case for DAC due to its abundant geothermal energy. The DAC tech needs clean energy to operate.

As of this time, there’s a lot of interest showing up in the carbon removal sector. And despite those couple of questions the industry has to answer, Counteract expects to reveal more deals soon.

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Carbon farming startup Loam Bio has closed a US$73 million Series B round co-led by Lowercarbon Capital and Wollemi Capital to improve the ability of soil to capture carbon.

Loam Bio specializes in boosting soil’s ability to store carbon through microbiology. It has also launched its CarbonBuilder seed inoculum and SecondCrop carbon tools in Australia.

The $73M Investment in Loam 

Apart from Lowercarbon Capital and Wollemi Capital, other key investors who participated in the funding round include:

Horizons Ventures, 
Acre Venture Partners, 
Main Sequence, 
the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, and
Grok Ventures

Loam will use the $73 million funding to expand its seed coating tech that supercharges plants’ ability to capture and store carbon in the soil. Tegan Nock, the company’s co-founder noted that:

“We’re really focused on delivering value for broad acre cropping systems right now, including wheat, barley and canola for the Australian market, and soy and corn for the US market.”

The fund will also support the delivery of new products that will go through years of testing for main crops in regions the company operates.

Better Soil Carbon Capture

About 10% of the earth’s surface is cropland. Though capturing carbon through the soil won’t be enough to remove what’s already in the air, the fact remains that it helps reduce carbon emissions. 

But farmers have to draw down carbon and store it underground. And this is no easy task for many farmers, especially in cropping systems. 

Loam co-founder Guy Hudson said that the annual cropping cycle can be intensive on soils. That’s because much of the carbon and nutrients are drawn from the soil to grow the crops for every season. 

Regenerative farming practices such as cover cropping and no-till are good at sequestering carbon. However, applying them at scale may disrupt existing operations of the farmers. 

This is where Loam Bio’s microbial technology comes in to help farmers adopt those carbon farming practices. According to Hudson: 

“By applying Loam seed treatment, farmers can accelerate a path towards healthier, more productive soils by driving more rapid increases in soil carbon, which benefits resilience and productivity.”

The startup seeks to improve the quality and quantity of soil carbon capture through its microbial technology. 

Loam’s CarbonBuilder: How it Works

Loam harnesses the power of microbiology to help tackle climate change while creating value for agriculture. 

The carbon farming firm coats seeds with its CarbonBuilder fungal before sowing them. The coating “supercharges” plants’ ability to store carbon in the soil.  

Nock said that what makes CarbonBuilder unique is the type of carbon that is sequestered through the biological process. She added that it’s the more stable form of carbon, meaning “there’s lower risk for farmers integrating carbon farming practices.”

She also said that this method increases fertility and productivity in the soil.

Under normal conditions, plants will draw down CO2 and trap it in the soil in the form of biomass. Among the various types of carbon, recalcitrant carbon doesn’t break down easily. Instead, it stays in the soil for a long time, up to a millennium. CarbonBuilder targets this hard-to-decompose carbon.  

Seeds coated with CarbonBuilder’s microbial fungi increase carbon sequestered in the soil. 

As the seed germinates, microbes bind the CO2 with macroaggregates in the soil. In other words, the fungi convert the carbon into a much stabler form it can keep in the ground for a long time. 

As mentioned in the video, there are 1.8 billion hectares of farmland globally. And there are about one million plants per hectare in a wheat crop. If those figures are multiplied and their sequestration is optimized through CarbonBuilder, the results would be massive. 

But that’s yet too far from what Loam manages to achieve right now. The carbon farming firm has sown 6,000 trial plots across 29 areas in 2 countries. 

In one example of CarbonBuilder’s application in barley, farmers managed to increase carbon units stored per hectare: from 0 – 2 to 3 – 6. 

Another company is improving trees’ ability to capture carbon and store it in their biomass. They refer to them as “GMO super trees“.

SecondCrop: Helping farmers join the carbon market

Alongside CarbonBuilder, Loam is also launching SecondCrop carbon project options. The goal is to boost the economic viability and transparency of the company’s carbon farming approach. 

Loam will assist farmers in many activities through SecondCrop, including:

Registration and administration
Land management strategies
Measurement and verification 

SecondCrop removes the upfront costs that carbon markets usually require. Loam also works directly with farmers to measure soil carbon and register with the carbon scheme. The company stated:

“By removing the risks of upfront costs, not [being able to build] soil carbon, and access to skilled support to manage the project, farmers are able to integrate carbon building into their existing farming system. Loam’s SecondCrop carbon project options are designed to remove these barriers for farmers and encourage increased participation in carbon farming.”

In carbon farming, carbon can be thought of as a crop similar to the other crops farmers produce. These agricultural practices give farmers the potential to turn their farms’ carbon sequestration into cash with carbon credits. Each ton of CO2 sequestered is awarded with one carbon credit.

This year, Loam will expand its technology testing in new geographies like Canada and Brazil. They will focus on the major crops grown specifically in those places.

Right now, Loam works with a limited number of Australian farmers to boost soil carbon capture. The carbon farming startup plans to reach the commercialization stage in the U.S. in 2024.

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How do carbon offset credits work? The billion dollar question, especially now that estimates say the carbon market will hit a $50 billion mark by 2030.

Carbon dioxide has the same effect on the climate no matter the place or the source of emissions. So, a tonne of carbon dioxide absorbed from the atmosphere in one part of the globe can be canceled out in another to neutralize it. 

In other words, entities can compensate for their footprint’s impact by supporting projects that remove or reduce CO2 or its equivalent gas. These projects are then awarded with carbon offset credits in the process they call carbon offsetting. 

We’ll talk about how exactly carbon offset credits work to guide you this 2023, their purpose, and how to buy them. For a beginner, let’s start from the top by explaining what carbon offset credits are.

What Are Carbon Offset Credits?

Carbon offset credits refer to measurable, verifiable emission reductions from climate action projects. These projects reduce, remove or avoid greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. But they also do other things apart from abating carbon emissions. 

Most climate-related projects also bring many other positive benefits such as restoring or protecting ecosystems and empowering local communities. Let alone reducing, if not stopping, reliance on fossil fuels. 

But to ensure that the credits are of high quality, projects must meet a rigorous set of criteria to pass verification by 3rd-party agencies and leading carbon standards like Verra and Gold Standard.

Theoretically speaking, 1 offset credit stands for 1 tonne of CO2 reduced or removed. 

After a company or an individual buys the carbon offset credit, it is permanently retired so it can’t be reused. 

Though carbon offset credits also trade in the compliance carbon market (cap-and-trade schemes), they’re more prevalent in the voluntary carbon market (VCM). That’s because many other companies outside the heavy emitting sectors seek to offset their emissions voluntarily. Credits circulating in the VCM are popularly known as carbon offsets. 

So why create carbon offsets in the first place? 

What Is The Purpose Of Carbon Offset Credits?

The end goal of carbon offset credits is to reduce or prevent the release of planet-warming GHG into the atmosphere. 

As mentioned, a carbon credit represents the right to emit one ton of CO2 or its equivalent gas. According to the Environmental Defense Fund, that is equal to about 2,400-mile drive in terms of CO2 footprint.

Since carbon dioxide is the principal GHG, people speak simply of trading in carbon. But other gasses are also measured in reduction claims such as methane and nitrous oxide. 

Under the compliance market, emitters are given a certain number of carbon credits (cap) that they can trade to help neutralize or offset global emissions (trade). Carbon credits in this market refer to certified emissions reductions or CER that follow a regulatory framework. These credits are issued and regulated by the government. 

If regulated entities emit more than their limits, they should buy the credits from others to comply with the required level. If they have an excess as they emit less than their cap, they can sell those credits to others who are short of them.

The major purpose of the scheme is to reduce the number of credits over time to incentivize emitters to look for ways to cut their footprint. 

In the VCM, things work differently but they all add up to the same intention. Market players don’t have to follow any limits but can decide how much emissions to offset by buying carbon credits. And same with mandated businesses, voluntary firms want to neutralize their footprint. 

Carbon offsets in the VCM are called voluntary emissions reductions or VER. They are independent and don’t need to follow government regulations. 

As a beginner in this space, you are perhaps thinking how carbon offset credits work. Maybe you’re wondering how carbon credits are calculated or if you can make money from carbon offsets. The good news is you can. 

Simply go over this guide on how you can make money producing and selling carbon offsets.

How Do Carbon Offset Credits Work for Beginners

If you’re a company owner, can you buy your way out of climate trouble with carbon offset credits? Yes and no. How is that so?

Under the climate mitigation hierarchy, buying carbon offsets is the last option. It means companies should not use carbon credits as an excuse to put off reducing emissions in business operations. 

But that doesn’t mean that carbon offsetting is useless and that it doesn’t work. The opposite is true…

Sales from carbon offset credits help channel money to the right projects that protect carbon sinks. 

In fact, many industry experts encourage companies to not just slash their own carbon emissions but also invest in actions outside of their value chain.

Moving the dial on climate change is critical to achieving global net zero emissions. And one key option in the dial is carbon offset credits. 

They provide a great way for businesses to fund climate actions such as protecting natural carbon sinks. Carbon credits are also crucial in scaling up carbon removal technologies which climate scientists consider elemental in keeping global warming from rising. 

More importantly, carbon offset credits work by ensuring that firms are putting a price on the impact their operations have on the environment. 

Best of all, offsetting hard-to-abate emissions through carbon credits attract funding to projects that effectively reduce emissions. 

Businesses should regularly assess their emissions and include them in sustainability reports. Reporting emissions is compulsory in many countries. 

In the United States, firms that emit 25,000 or more metric tons of CO2 must report those emissions to the EPA yearly.

The reporting threshold is lower in California – 10,000 metric tons.

If you think investing in carbon offset credits is worth every dollar, the next thing you should know is how to purchase them. 

How to Purchase Carbon Offset Credits? 

Obviously, you would be asking how much a single carbon credit is worth. The actual price depends on some things like the type of project and where its location.

But in general, carbon offset credits cost around $3 to $5 per ton of CO2. This carbon price, however, will rise dramatically in the next decade. Thanks to stronger climate policies and better standardization in the market.  

Again, you can do carbon offsetting voluntarily or to comply with certain regulations. 

There are various ways on how to purchase carbon offset credits…

One way to do that is to ask for a broker’s help, for a fee, of course. The broker often has the knowledge about the different projects to support with the credits you’re going to pay. 

Brokers charge a fee based on your emissions level. They will then invest a portion of your payment in a certain carbon reduction or removal project like reforestation. 

You then get a certificate or some type of proof showing that you have bought the offset credit. You can then use it for compliance purposes or for any other intention. 

Still confused about how carbon offset credits work and how to buy them?  

Here are the main steps you can follow for successful carbon offsetting:  

Step #1. Calculate your carbon emissions

For an individual, this will be easier. You have to get all the data from your household and individual carbon-emitting activities. 

For a company, it tends to be more difficult as there is a lot of information and data to collect to get the total emissions. The more complex the structure of your organization, the harder it is to identify who or what are the sources of emissions. 

Usually, doing it involves identifying three different sources of emissions – Scopes 1, 2, and 3.

Scope 1 refers to direct emissions from sources the company owns or controls while Scope 2 is the indirect emissions from electricity, steam, heating, and cooling resources the company buys. Scope 3 are other indirect emissions that come from the company’s value chain.

The following diagram shows the common types of emissions sources under each scope.

For a more detailed explanation on calculating emissions, check out this complete guide here. 

Step #2 . Cut emissions where possible

After you get your total emissions, you can then use it to work on your sustainability or decarbonization strategy.  

The Science Based Target initiative (SBTi) provides guidelines for companies on how to reduce emissions. The organization’s Net Zero Standard aligns with the goals of the Paris Agreement. 

You can also achieve carbon reductions in smaller ways through your individual actions. For example, you can switch to greener transportation or go for a more sustainable diet. 

Step #3 . Offset unavoidable emissions

Any emissions that your company can’t reduce can be offset by investing in carbon reduction projects. But take note that a project must be certified to issue carbon offset credits.

The top carbon certifying bodies are Verra, Climate Action Reserve, Gold Standard, Plan Vivo, and American Carbon Registry. 

Verifying that a project meets criteria is important. It needs to show that its carbon reductions are real, additional, measurable, and permanent. Only by meeting these criteria that the carbon credits the project generates is of high quality. 

Once you have purchased the correct carbon offset credits, you must be transparent about it to your stakeholders. They should be aware of your offsetting strategy and which projects benefit from your credit.

Transparency is crucial to avoid greenwashing accusations. Greenwashing is a marketing ploy used to convince people that a firm’s products, goals or policies are eco-friendly.

So, you must show that buying carbon offset credits works for you and it’s good for your business. And it’s the last option you have to deal with the pollution you emit.

Buy Carbon Offset Credits

Offsetting your emissions is obviously not a last-resort mindset. While carbon offsetting and buying carbon offset credits is not that hard, you should know how to do it and where to start.

Not to mention that there are plenty of carbon credit marketplaces available online to begin your search.

But if you want to ensure that each dollar you invest in a carbon reduction or removal project counts, get ready to know the details. You can start by knowing who issues carbon credits and work your way from there.

You may also learn which carbon credits are best to buy to offset your footprint.

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