Until recently, most carbon offsets were commonly done by planting trees.

Carbon offsetting is the act of mitigating ("offsetting") greenhouse gas emissions. A well-known example is the purchasing of offsets to compensate for the greenhouse gas emissions from personal air travel. Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Top: Increasing atmospheric CO2 levels as measured in the atmosphere and ice cores. ...

The idea of paying for emission reductions elsewhere instead of reducing one's own emissions is known from the closely related concept of emissions trading. However, in contrast to emissions trading, which is regulated by a strict formal and legal framework, carbon offsets generally refer to voluntary acts by individuals or companies that are arranged by commercial or not-for-profit carbon-offset providers. Nonetheless some formal standards for voluntary carbon offsets are emerging. Emissions trading (or cap and trade) is an administrative approach used to control pollution by providing economic incentives for achieving reductions in the emissions of pollutants. ...

A wide variety of offset methods are in use — while tree planting was initially a mainstay of carbon offsetting, renewable energy, energy conservation and methane capture offsets have now become increasingly popular. Purchase and withdrawal of emissions trading credits is also seen, creating a connection between the voluntary and regulated carbon markets. Renewable energy flows involve natural phenomena such as sunlight, wind, tides and geothermal heat. ... For the physical concepts, see conservation of energy and energy efficiency. ... Methane is a chemical compound with the molecular formula CH4. ... Emissions trading (or cap and trade) is an administrative approach used to control pollution by providing economic incentives for achieving reductions in the emissions of pollutants. ...

Carbon offsetting as part of a "carbon neutral" lifestyle has gained some appeal and momentum mainly among consumers in western countries who have become aware and concerned about the potentially negative effects of energy-intensive lifestyles and economies on the environment. The Kyoto Protocol has sanctioned official offsets for governments and private companies to earn carbon credits which can be traded on a marketplace. This has contributed to the increasing popularity of voluntary offsets among private individuals and also companies. Offsets may be cheaper or more convenient alternatives to reducing one's own fossil-fuel consumption. However, some critics object to carbon offsets, and many have questioned the benefits of certain types of offsets, such as tree planting. Kyoto Protocol Opened for signature December 11, 1997 in Kyoto, Japan Entered into force February 16, 2005. ... This article deals with carbon credits for international trading. ... This group of political volunteers is working to promote voter turn-out. ...

Types of offset

Tree Planting

Tree planting includes not only recreating natural forests (reforestation) and avoiding deforestation, but also monoculture tree farming on plantations for logging, biodiesel production, or other commercial purposes. The term "reforestation" is nevertheless often applied in this context to monoculture tree farming as well as recreating natural forests. There is also afforestation, which means establishing forests particularly on land not previously forested. This can produce higher carbon sequestration rates because the level of carbon in such land is comparatively low. Biodiversity on a 15-year-old reforested plot of land. ... Deforestation is the conversion of forested areas to non-forest land use such as arable land, pasture, urban use, logged area, or wasteland. ... Monoculture describes systems that have very low diversity. ... // This article is about crop plantations. ... Logging is the process in which trees are cut down usually as part of a timber harvest. ... In some countries, filling stations sell biodiesel more cheaply than conventional diesel. ... Afforestation is the process of converting open land into a forest by planting trees or their seeds. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Carbon capture and storage. ...

Many forestry offset projects have been conceived and/or conducted in ways that are vulnerable to criticism, drawing their net benefits into question. Significant concern also arises over the permanence of carbon storage in trees and forests, as potential future clearing or burning of the forest would return the stored carbon to the atmosphere.

In July, 2007, Vatican City accepted an offer that will make it the only carbon neutral state for the year, due to the donation of the Vatican Climate Forest in Hungary. The forest is to be sized to offset the year's carbon dioxide emissions.^[1] A carbon audit regime is an effective means of accounting for greenhouse gas control efforts. ... The Vatican Climate Forest, to be located in the Bükk National Park, Hungary, was donated to the Vatican City by a carbon offsetting company. ...

Climate impacts

Trees sequester carbon through photosynthesis, converting carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and plant matter. Hence, forests that grow in area or density will reduce atmospheric CO₂ levels. (Carbon is released if a tree or its lumber burns, but as long as the forest is able to grow back, the net result is carbon neutral.) In their 2001 assessment, the IPCC estimated the potential of biological mitigation options (mainly tree planting) is on the order of 100 Gigatonnes of Carbon (cumulative) by 2050, equivalent to about 10% to 20% of projected fossil fuel emissions during that period.^[2]. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Carbon capture and storage. ... The leaf is the primary site of photosynthesis in plants. ... IPCC is science authority for the UNFCCC The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was established in 1988 by two United Nations organizations, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to assess the risk of human-induced climate change. The Panel is open to all... Global carbon dioxide emissions 1800–2000 Global average surface temperature 1850 to 2006 Mitigation of global warming involves taking actions aimed at reducing the extent of global warming. ... A gigaton (or gigatonne) is a metric unit of mass, equal to 1,000,000,000 (1 billion) metric tons, 1,000,000,000,000 (1 trillion) kilograms, or 1 quadrillion grams. ...

However, the global cooling effect of forests from sequestration is not the only factor to be considered. For example, the planting of new forests may initially release some of the terrain's existing carbon stores into the atmosphere. Specifically, the conversion of peat bogs into oil palm plantations has made Indonesia the world's third largest producer of greenhouse gases.^[3]. Compared to less vegetated lands, forests affect climate in three main ways: Virgin boreal acid bogs at Browns Lake Bog, Ohio A bog is a wetland type that accumulates peat, a deposit of dead plant material. ... Species Elaeis guineensis Elaeis oleifera The oil palms (Elaeis) coomprise two species of the Arecaceae, or palm family. ...

1. cooling Earth by functioning as carbon sinks
2. cooling Earth by adding water vapor, a greenhouse gas, to the atmosphere and thereby increasing cloudiness
3. warming Earth by absorbing a high percentage of sunlight due to the low reflectivity of forest's dark surfaces. This warming effect, or reduced albedo, is large where evergreen forests (very low reflectivity) shade snow cover (very high reflectivity).

Most tree planting offset strategies to date have taken only the first effect into account. A study published in December 2005 combined all these effects and found that tropical forestation has a large net cooling effect, because of increased cloudiness and because of high tropical growth and sequestration rates.^[4] Trees grow three times faster in the tropics than in temperate zones; each tree in the rainy tropics removes about 22 kilograms (50 pounds) of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year.^[5] However, this study found little to no net global cooling from tree planting in temperate climates, where warming due to sunlight absorption by trees counteracts the global cooling effect of carbon sequestration. Furthermore, this study confirmed earlier findings that reforestation of colder regions — where long periods of snow cover, evergreen trees, and slow seqestration rates prevail — probably results in global warming. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Carbon capture and storage. ... A noontime scene from the Philippines on a day when the Sun is almost directly overhead. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Carbon capture and storage. ... For the usage in virology, see temperate (virology). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Carbon capture and storage. ...

"To plant forests outside of the tropics to mitigate climate change is a waste of time", said Ken Caldeira,^[6] a study co-author from the Carnegie Institution. "To prevent climate change, we need to transform our energy system. It is only by transforming our energy system and preserving natural habitat, such as forests, that we can maintain a healthy environment. To prevent climate change, we must focus on effective strategies and not just ‘feel-good’ strategies."

His premise that grassland reflects more sun, keeping temperatures lower is only applicable in arid regions, however. A well watered lawn for example is as green as a tree but absorbs far less CO₂. Deciduous trees also have the advantage of providing shade in the summer and sunlight in the winter. Deciduous means temporary or tending to fall off (deriving from the Latin word decidere, to fall off) and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally. ...

Costs

While the benefits of tree-planting are subject to debate, the costs are low [3]compared to many other mitigation options. The IPCC has concluded that "The mitigation costs through forestry can be quite modest (US$0.1–US$20 / metric ton carbon dioxide) in some tropical developing countries.... The costs of biological mitigation, therefore, are low compared to those of many other alternative measures".^[2] The cost effectiveness of tropical reforestation is due not only to growth rate, but also to farmers from tropical developing countries who voluntarily plant and nurture tree species which can improve the productivity of their lands.^[7] As little as US$90 will plant 900 trees, enough to annually remove as much carbon dioxide as is annually generated by the fossil-fuel usage of an average United States resident.^[8] IPCC is the science authority for the UNFCCC The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was established in 1988 by two United Nations organizations, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), to evaluate the risk of climate change brought on by humans, based mainly on... It has been suggested that Underdevelopment be merged into this article or section. ...

Types of trees planted

A eucalyptus plantation

The type of tree planted may have great influence on the environmental outcomes. Planting the wrong kind of trees, such as monocultures of eucalyptus where they are not native species, can devastate the lands of the local people.^[9] However, it is often much more profitable to outside interests to plant non-native fast-growing trees, such as eucalyptus or pine (e.g., Pinus radiata or Pinus caribaea), even though the environmental and biodiversity benefits of such monoculture plantations are not comparable to native forest, and such offset projects are frequently objects of controversy (see below). Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1704 × 2272 pixel, file size: 954 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Bosque de eucalipto en Galicia (España) cerca de Viveiro. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1704 × 2272 pixel, file size: 954 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Bosque de eucalipto en Galicia (España) cerca de Viveiro. ... natural range Species About 700; see the List of Eucalyptus species Eucalyptus (From Greek, ευκάλυπτος = Well covered) is a diverse genus of trees (and a few shrubs), the members of which dominate the tree flora of Australia. ... Subgenera Subgenus Strobus Subgenus Ducampopinus Subgenus Pinus See Pinus classification for complete taxonomy to species level. ... Binomial name Pinus radiata Pinus radiata (family Pinaceae) is known in English as Monterey Pine in some parts of the world (mainly in the USA and Britain), and Radiata Pine in others (primarily Australia and New Zealand). ... Binomial name Pinus caribaea Morelet The Caribbean Pine (Pinus caribaea) is a pine native to Central America, Cuba and the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands. ... Monoculture describes systems that have very low diversity. ...

To promote the growth of native ecosystems, many environmentalists advocate only indigenous trees be planted. A practical solution is to plant tough, fast-growing native tree species which begin rebuilding the land. Planting non-invasive trees that assist in the natural return of indigenous species is called "assisted natural regeneration." There are many such species that can be planted, of which about 12 are in widespread use, such as Leucaena leucocephala.^[10] Binomial name Leucaena leucocephala Leucaena, Lead tree, or White popinac (Leucaena leucocephala) (also called petai cina in Indonesian and lamtoro or lamotorogung in Javanese) is a Mimosacea tropical plant used for fiber and livestock feed. ...

Avoided deforestation

Some offsets aim at carbon benefits from avoided deforestation. It may involve training developing-world communities in the production, sale, and use of fuel-efficient stoves. As almost half of the world's people burn wood (or fiber or dung) for their cooking and heating needs, fuel-efficient cook stoves can reduce fuel wood consumption by 30 to 50%, though the warming of the earth due to decreases in particulate matter (i.e. smoke) from such fuel-efficient stoves has not been addressed.^[10] Dung can refer to: (what lana belchers face looks like) Look up dung in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Renewable energy

Renewable energy offsets commonly include wind power, solar power, hydroelectric power and biofuel. Some of these offsets are used to reduce the cost differential between renewable and conventional energy production, increasing the commercial viability of a choice to use renewable energy sources. Others operate in developing countries, for example by training local communities to produce biodiesel from jatropha oil. Renewable energy flows involve natural phenomena such as sunlight, wind, tides and geothermal heat. ... An example of a wind turbine, this 3 bladed turbine is the classic design of modern wind turbines Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into more useful forms, usually electricity, using wind turbines. ... Solar power describes a number of methods of harnessing energy from the light of the sun. ... Hydroelectricity is the worlds leading renewable energy source. ... For articles on specific fuels used in vehicles, see Biogas, Bioethanol, Biobutanol, Biodiesel, and Straight vegetable oil. ... It has been suggested that Underdevelopment be merged into this article or section. ... In some countries, filling stations sell biodiesel more cheaply than conventional diesel. ... Jatropha oil is produced from the seeds of the Jatropha curcas, a plant that can grow in wastelands. ...

Some renewable energy offset projects are sold in multiple markets, such as the Te Apiti Wind Farm in New Zealand, a project certified to the privately operated CDM Gold Standard which supplies offsets to the Dutch Government, British bank HSBC, and private citizens. A connection is also sometimes made between carbon offsets and renewable energy certificates (RECs), also known as Green Tags. An REC represents a certain quantity of electricity which was generated from renewable sources. By purchasing an REC, the customer helps fund a renewable energy project (albeit usually in retrospect), which leads to lower carbon emissions. Construction of the Te Apiti wind farm Te Apiti is a wind farm owned and operated by Meridian Energy Limited. ... The CDM Gold Standard is a set of (voluntary) guidelines for Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects which strive to guarantee that the projects meet high standards in terms of benefits for environment and development. ... For other uses, see HSBC (disambiguation). ...

Energy conservation

While carbon offsets which fund renewable energy projects help lower the carbon intensity of energy supply, energy conservation projects seek to reduce the overall demand for energy. Carbon offsets in this category fund projects of several types:

1. Cogeneration plants generate both electricity and heat from the same power source, thus improving upon the energy efficiency of most power plants which waste the energy generated as heat.
2. Fuel efficiency projects replace a combustion device with one which uses less fuel per unit of energy provided. Assuming energy demand does not change, this reduces the carbon dioxide emitted.
3. Energy-efficient buildings reduce the amount of energy wasted in buildings through inefficient heating, cooling or lighting systems. In particular, the replacement of incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent lamps can have a drastic effect on energy consumption. New buildings can also be constructed using less carbon-intensive input materials.

Cogeneration (also combined heat and power or CHP) is the use of a heat engine or a power station to simultaneously generate both electricity and useful heat. ... This article is about green building construction. ... The light bulb is one of the most significant inventions in the history of the human race, illuminating the darkness of the evening and bringing light indoors at all times in order focus on the task at hand. ... A spiral type compact fluorescent lamp. ...

Methane Collection & Combustion

Some offset projects consist of combusting or containing methane generated by farm animals ^[11], landfills^[12] or other industrial waste. Methane has a Global warming potential (GWP) 23 times that of CO₂; when combusted, each molecule of methane is converted to one molecule of CO₂, thus reducing the global warming effect by 96%. Methane can also be processed using an anaerobic digester which generates electricity or heat. Methane is a chemical compound with the molecular formula CH4. ... Global warming potential (GWP) is a measure of how much a given mass of greenhouse gas is estimated to contribute to global warming. ... Anaerobic digesters are used to create anaerobic, meaning without oxygen, conditions so that anaerobic bacteria can efficiently digest biomass, sewage or other organic matter. ...

Links with emission trading schemes

Carbon offsets can also be linked with official emission trading schemes, such as the European Union Emission Trading Scheme and the voluntary Chicago Climate Exchange. By purchasing emission allowances and subsequently withdrawing the allowances from the markets, a reduction of allowable emissions is forced (assuming the trading scheme works as intended). In the case of the European Union Emission Trading Scheme it is widely believed that allowable emissions (during the first phase of the system) exceed physical emissions, in which case there is no physical effect from doing so. EU emission allowances sell for 0.13Euro per metric ton of CO₂, as of June 2007. EU emission allowances for the 2008-2012 second phase sell for between 21 and 24Euro per metric ton CO₂ as of July 2007. The Chicago Climate Exchange tons trade for about $3.25 per metric ton of CO₂, also as of July 2007. The European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) is the largest multi-national, greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme in the world and is a main pillar of EU climate policy. ... Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) is the world’s first and North America’s only voluntary, legally binding greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction and trading system for emission sources and offset projects in North America and Brazil. ...

Other

A UK offset provider set up a carbon offsetting scheme which set up a secondary market for treadle pumps in developing countries. These pumps are used by farmers, using human power, in place of diesel pumps. ^[13] However, given that treadle pumps are best suited to pumping shallow water, while diesel pumps are usually used to pump water from deep boreholes, it is not clear that the treadle pumps are actually achieving real emissions reductions. Other companies have explored and rejected treadle pumps as a viable carbon offsetting approach due to these concerns. A treadle pump is a human-powered pump designed to lift water from a depth of seven meters or less. ... This article is about the fuel. ...

Accounting for and verifying reductions

Due to their indirect nature, many types of offset are difficult to verify. Some providers obtain independent certification that their offsets are accurately measured, to distance themselves from potentially fraudulent competitors. The credibility of the various certification providers is often questioned. Certified offsets may be purchased from commercial or non-profit organizations for US$1–30 per tonne of CO₂,^[14] due to constant fluctuations with the current market price. Annual carbon dioxide emissions in developed countries range from 6 to 23 tons per capita.^[8] A tonne or metric ton (symbol t), sometimes referred to as a metric tonne, is a measurement of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. ...

Accounting systems differ on what constitutes a valid offset for voluntary reduction systems and for mandatory reduction systems. Formal standards for quantification of offsets are not in place; differences of opinion between emitters, regulators, environmentalists, and project developers have yet to be resolved.

Accounting of offsets may address the following basic areas:

• Baseline - What emissions would occur in the absence of a proposed project?
• Additionality - Would the project occur anyway without the investment raised by selling carbon offset credits?
• Redundancy - Are the reductions already required by some other law or regulation?
• Permanence - Are some benefits of the reductions reversible? (for example, trees may be harvested to burn the wood; many trees, in geological terms, have relatively short life spans, making them unsuitable for long-term carbon sequestration; and does growing trees for fuel wood decrease the need for fossil fuel?) If woodlands are increasing in area or density, then carbon is being sequestered. After roughly 50 years, newly planted forests will reach maturity and remove carbon dioxide more slowly.
• Carbon leakage - Does implementing the project cause higher emissions outside the project boundary?

Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons, primarily coal and petroleum (fuel oil or natural gas), formed from the fossilized remains of dead plants and animals[1] by exposure to heat and pressure in the Earths crust over hundreds of millions of years[2]. The theory that hydrocarbons were formed from these... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Carbon capture and storage. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Carbon capture and storage. ... Carbon leakage occurs when there is an increase in carbon dioxide emissions by some countries in reaction to an emission reduction by countries with climate policy. ...

Controversies

Some disagree with the principle of carbon offsets. George Monbiot, an English environmentalist and writer, has compared carbon offsets to the practice of purchasing indulgences during the Middle Ages, whereby people believed they could purchase forgiveness for their sins (instead of actually repenting and not sinning anymore). Monbiot also says that carbon offsets are an excuse for business as usual with regards to pollution.^[15] Other critics accuse some offset schemes of deploying 'Enron style accounting' in their calculation of emissions reductions.^[16] George Monbiot. ... Look up Indulgence in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

The current carbon trading market has also been criticized as an unregulated activity that has questionable results to actually offset or reduce carbon emissions. It is quite possible to spend money investing in carbon credits that do not exist. At this time it is important to research the company you have business dealings with since there is no governmental body that checks for you.^[17]

There are also concerns that using carbon offsets actually increases demand for polluting sources of power since overall power consumption is not being reduced.^[18]

TerraPass and the Oscars

Founded as a classroom project at the Wharton School, TerraPass received widespread attention for offset services provided to the Academy Awards and a subsequent BusinessWeek investigation. ^[19] According to BusinessWeek, the bulk of offsets provided to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences were purchased from a methane recapturing project in Tontitown, Arkansas, in which methane produced at a landfill is burned and released as carbon dioxide. Contrary to the assumption that purchasing offsets resulted in additional methane recapture, BusinessWeek reported that the Tontitown recapture project predated TerraPass' offsets, that the landfill owners, Waste Management, had been governmentally compelled to increase the amount of recapture, and that the owners themselves reported that they would have continued to invest in the project regardless of the TerraPass offsets. The BusinessWeek article was also critical of the proportion of offset monies that actually make it from the consumer/purchaser to the offsetting project. For example, BusinessWeek spoke to dairy farmers recapturing methane from cow manure and found that the farmers received $2 out of every $9 transacted. Regarding the Tontitwon methane flaring project, TerraPass responded that an internal investigation revealed that the investment in the methane flaring system far exceeded legal requirements, that as much as 99% of the methane captured by the system was a result of additional investments, and that Waste Management invested further into expanding the system later without any regulatory pressure. ^[20] The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is a business school at the University of Pennsylvania, USA. The school was founded by Joseph Wharton, who also was one of the founders of Swarthmore College (founded in 1864), in 1881 as the first collegiate business school in the United States. ... TerraPass is a corporation that provides carbon offsetting products to individuals and businesses. ... BusinessWeek is a business magazine published by McGraw-Hill. ... Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study in Hollywood, California Founded on May 11, 1927 in California, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures. ... Tontitown is a city in Washington County, Arkansas, United States. ... Official language(s) English Capital Little Rock Largest city Little Rock Largest metro area Little Rock Metropolitan Area Area  Ranked 29th  - Total 53,179 sq mi (137,002 km²)  - Width 239 miles (385 km)  - Length 261 miles (420 km)  - % water 2. ... Methane is a chemical compound with the molecular formula CH4. ... In order to meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article requires cleanup. ...

FACE-PROFAFOR in Ecuador

In Ecuador, the Dutch FACE Foundation has an offset project in the Andean Páramo involving 220 square kilometres of eucalyptus and pine planted, of which 200 square kilometres certified under the Forest Stewardship Council system (by SGS). Following an investigation, the NGO Acción Ecológica criticized the project for destroying a valuable Páramo ecosystem by introducing exotic tree species, causing the release of much soil carbon into the atmosphere, and for harming local communities who had entered into contracts with the FACE Foundation to plant the trees.^[21] The Face Foundation (established 1990) is a non-profit organization specialised in carbon offsets through forestry projects. ... Espeletia (Frailejón) plant in the Venezuelan páramo. ... natural range Species About 700; see the List of Eucalyptus species Eucalyptus (From Greek, ευκάλυπτος = Well covered) is a diverse genus of trees (and a few shrubs), the members of which dominate the tree flora of Australia. ... Official logotype of FSC The Forest Stewardship Council is a non-profit organization based in Bonn, Germany. ... Acción Ecológica is one of the main environmental organization based in Ecuador. ...

East Africa

A Norwegian firm called Tree Farms (or Fjordgløtt, as it was then called) started operations in Uganda and Tanzania (and later in Malawi). In Uganda, it obtained a very cheap 50-year lease on 51.6 square kilometres east of the town Jinja in the Bukaleba Forest Reserve on Lake Victoria. Tree Farms planned to plant the land mainly with eucalyptus and fast-growing pines. The project has been criticized for forcing people in five communities off their lands and paying too little rent for the land.^[22] Lake Victoria and the Great Rift Valley Lake Victoria height variation The lake as seen from space, looking west, with other members of the African Great Lakes forming an arc in the middle distance. ... natural range Species About 700; see the List of Eucalyptus species Eucalyptus (From Greek, ευκάλυπτος = Well covered) is a diverse genus of trees (and a few shrubs), the members of which dominate the tree flora of Australia. ... Subgenera Subgenus Strobus Subgenus Ducampopinus Subgenus Pinus See Pinus classification for complete taxonomy to species level. ...

In another project in Uganda, the aforementioned Dutch FACE Foundation in 1995 entered into an agreement with the Ugandan authorities to plant trees on 250 square kilometres inside Mount Elgon National Park. The project involves planting a two to three kilometer-wide strip of trees (including eucalyptus) just inside the 211 kilometer boundary of the National Park. The project is certified under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) scheme and managed by SGS Qualfor, a leading verification and certification company. Mount Elgon National Park is one of several national parks of Kenya. ... Official logotype of FSC The Forest Stewardship Council is a non-profit organization based in Bonn, Germany. ...

However, a recent World Rainforest Movement report ^[23]documents land disputes and human rights abuses at Mount Elgon. In March 2002, a few days before SGS issued a certificate for the Forest Stewardship Council for Mount Elgon, the UWA evicted more than 300 families from the area and destroyed their homes and crops. That the project was taking place in an area of on-going land conflict and alleged human rights abuses did not make it into SGS’s report. SGS’s credibility has also been called into question by the decision of the FSC’s Accreditation Service to suspend another of its certificates, issued to the Barama company in Guyana. The report also alleges that workers are paid well below subsistence rates for tending the trees. Human rights are rights which some hold to be inalienable and belonging to all humans. ...

SASOL

SASOL, a South African company, circa 2005, was faced with a business decision; open a coal mine, or build a difficult natural gas pipeline to another country. The decision was to build the pipeline. SASOL is now claiming the difference in CO₂ emitted, comparing the pipeline to the contemplated coal mine, as a carbon offset.[4] Sasol (originally South African Steenkolen en Olie) is a South African company involved in mining, energy, chemicals and synfuels. ... Wyoming coal mine Coal mining is the mining of coal. ... For other uses, see Natural gas (disambiguation). ...

Financial Times investigation

In 2007, the Financial Times conducted an investigation of the carbon offsets industry.^[24] Among the findings they reported were: The Financial Times (FT) is an international business newspaper printed on distinctive salmon pink broadsheet paper. ...

• Widespread instances of people and organizations buying worthless credits that do not yield any reductions in carbon emissions.

• Industrial companies profiting from doing very little – or from gaining carbon credits on the basis of efficiency gains from which they have already benefited substantially.

• Brokers providing services of questionable or no value.

• A shortage of verification, making it difficult for buyers to assess the true value of carbon credits.

• Companies and individuals being charged over the odds for the private purchase of European Union carbon permits that have plummeted in value because they do not result in emissions cuts.

See also

Energy Portal

• Mitigation of global warming
• Carbon emissions trading
• Renewable Energy Certificates
• Action on climate change
• Carbon dioxide sinks
• Plantations and natural forest loss
• Live Earth Pledge

Image File history File links Portal. ... Global carbon dioxide emissions 1800–2000 Global average surface temperature 1850 to 2006 Mitigation of global warming involves taking actions aimed at reducing the extent of global warming. ... Carbon emissions trading involves the trading of permits to emit carbon dioxide (and other greenhouse gases, calculated in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, tCO2e). ... Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), also known as Green tags, Renewable Energy Credits, or Tradable Renewable Certificates (TRCs), are the property rights to the environmental benefits from generating electricity from renewable energy sources. ... The issue of human-caused, or anthropogenic, climate change (global warming) is becoming a central focus of the Green movement. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Carbon capture and storage. ... // This article is about crop plantations. ... The Live Earth Pledge (or the Seven Point Pledge) is a petition promulgated by the Live Earth campaign, urging governments to adopt a variety of environmental protection laws. ...

References

A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 53rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... The foundation of the U.N. The United Nations (UN) is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate co-operation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress and human rights issues. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 53rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

Carbon Management at the Open Directory Project The Open Directory Project (ODP), also known as dmoz (from , its original domain name), is a multilingual open content directory of World Wide Web links owned by Netscape that is constructed and maintained by a community of volunteer editors. ...