What are carbon emissions?
What is carbon footprint?
What is carbon neutral?
Why need carbon offsets?
What are UN backed carbon offsets?
How can you know carbon offsets have real and positive impact?
What is Certified Emission Reduction (CER)?
What is Verified Emission Reduction (VER)?
What are greenhouse gases?
Greenhouse gases are gases in the atmosphere that absorb radiation and contribute to the greenhouse effect. Many gases exhibit greenhouse gas properties.
The main greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and ozone. However, the Kyoto Protocol only targets the emission of six main greenhouse gases, namely:
• Carbon dioxide (CO2)
• Methane (CH4)
• Nitrous oxide (N2O)
• Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)
• Perfluorocarbons (PFCs)
• Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6)
What are carbon emissions?
Carbon emissions, for easy understanding, are overall measures of greenhouse gases emissions converted to the equivalent of carbon emissions based on their potential impact on global warming. Carbon emissions are caused by daily human activities such as the use of electricity, oil and gas, as well as waste production and water usage.
What is carbon footprint?
Carbon footprint, a metaphorical way of describing carbon emissions, represents the sum total of all the greenhouse gases individuals or orgainsations put to the atmosphere as a result of their activities. The term carbon footprint is named after carbon dioxide, the principal cause of global warming.
Carbon emissions are generated when energy is being created from fossil fuels such as oil or coal. Common activities that add to your carbon footprint include:
• Driving • Flying • Air-conditioning • other uses of electricity
The products you buy also contribute to your carbon footprint because energy is required in the process of manufacturing and transportation.
What is carbon neutral?
Carbon neutral is the term used to describe an activity which achieves net zero carbon emissions. This can be done by managing, reducing one's carbon emissions, and balancing the rest through purchasing carbon offsets. As renewable energy or other environmental friendly projects can help reduce or replace the sources of carbon emission, support to carbon offset projects contributes to reduce our current carbon emissions over time.
Why need carbon offsets?
Carbon offsets help you balance out your own contribution to global warming by funding greenhouse gases reduction projects. Of course, mitigating climate change begins with conservation. Drive as fuel-efficient a car as possible. Reduce your driving by walking or cycling, or using public transportation. Cut back on plane travel. Use less air-conditioning. With carbon offsets, you can balance out 100% of those emissions you cannot eliminate through conservation.
What are UN backed carbon offsets?
A tonne of CO2 emitted anywhere in the world has the same impact on our climate. In practice, this means that we can offset emissions we cannot reduce ourselves by financing emission reductions elsewhere, which can be most efficiently done in developing countries. These emission reductions are obtained through renewable energy or energy efficiency projects. This approach is central to the Kyoto Protocol.
The two most established and accepted carbon offset credits in the world are Certified Emission Reduction (CER) and Verified Emission Reduction (VER).
How can you know carbon offsets have real and positive impact?
All CCA carbon credits comply with strict international standards referencing the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. They are validated by the United Nations' CDM authorities as CER; or are verified by internationally authorized certification bodies such as SGS and TUV as VER.
What is Certified Emission Reduction (CER)?
Certified Emission Reduction (CER) is purchasable carbon credit validated by the United Nations under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in Kyoto Protocol, which requires its Annex 1 Countries (eg. EU, Japan, Australia) to comply with a Cap-and-Trade agreement to reduce their carbon emission and through purchasing CER to an agreed emission level.
What is Verified Emission Reduction (VER)?
Verified Emission Reduction (VER) is purchasable credit transferred from greenhouse gases reductions made possible by an emissions-reducing project, such as wind farm, hydro power and afforestation projects. It is verified by independent third parties based on internationally recognized standards. Organizations which are not bound by the Kyoto Protocol Cap-and-Trade agreement may offset their carbon footprints through VERs.