The Carbon Neutral Company
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Environmental |
| Founded | 1997 |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
| Number of locations | London, New York, Singapore |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Offset inclusive carbon reduction solutions |
| Website | carbonneutral.com |
The CarbonNeutral Company is a global provider of carbon reduction solutions. Founded in 1997, the company has been one of the first providers of voluntary carbon offset credits in the world.[1] Today, the company works with businesses in 32 countries to help them measure and reduce their carbon emissions, primarily through the sale of carbon offsets.[2] The CarbonNeutral Company is the issuer of the CarbonNeutral certification which is underpinned by The CarbonNeutral Protocol.[3]
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[edit] History
In the 1990s, when climate change started to be discussed by the broader public and the Kyoto Protocol constituted a compliance market for greenhouse gas emissions, the private sector started to take voluntary action.
In 1997, Sue Welland and Dan Morrell founded the company as Future Forests in an effort to engage the private sector voluntarily to take responsibility for their impact on the climate. The company offered both companies and individuals the chance to offset the emissions that they are responsible for. In 1998, the company registered the CarbonNeutral trademark and provided clients who offset their emissions a certificate of being CarbonNeutral.[1][4]
First famous supporters were artists like Joe Strummer, who developed the idea for the business together with the founders of the company around a campfire in 1996. More notable customers and supporters were Al Gore, The Rolling Stones, who went for the first CarbonNeutral rock tour around the U.S. in 2003, Pink Floyd, Foo Fighters, Dido, Orlando Bloom, Brad Pitt and Leonardo Di Caprio, who became the first CarbonNeutral citizen in 2003.[5] In 2004, The Day After Tomorrow received CarbonNeutral movie status.[6]
[edit] Carbon neutral
Carbon neutrality, or having a net zero carbon footprint, refers to achieving net zero carbon emissions by balancing a measured amount of carbon released with an equivalent amount of carbon reductions. The notation CarbonNeutral is a registered trademark of The CarbonNeutral Company.[4] For businesses to be awarded the CarbonNeutral certification they have to comply with The Carbon Neutral Protocol which lays out the scopes of emissions to be included and the type of reduction measures to be taken. The expression carbon neutral was chosen as Word of the Year 2006 by the New Oxford American Dictionary.[7]
[edit] Controversy
The concept of neutralising carbon emissions by financing carbon reduction projects, known as offsetting, is controversial. The arguments for and against are elaborated upon in the Wikipedia article on carbon offsets.
[edit] The company
The CarbonNeutral Company offers carbon reduction solutions by helping companies to measure and reduce their carbon emissions and offset the remainder.
According to the Carbon Management and Offsetting Trends Survey 2009, The CarbonNeutral Company is the most recognised offset provider in Europe and ranks among the three most recognised offset providers in the world.[8]
The company’s approach is to help its clients plan their carbon management strategy, measure carbon emissions, set targets for reductions, reduce emissions through a combination of internal reductions and carbon offsets and communicate the action that has been taken in a credible manner.[9]
[edit] Projects and standards
Over the last decade the company has worked with 200 projects in 24 countries. It contracted approximately 2 million tonnes of CO2e in 2009. To ensure quality in its operations, the company developed a global standard for carbon neutral certification: The Carbon Neutral Protocol which lays out the requirements a business must meet in order for it, its services or its products to be certified CarbonNeutral.
According to this protocol, all projects must be validated and verified by independent third parties such as the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS), Gold Standard and Climate Action Reserve (CAR). The company’s operations are audited by PwC to ensure proper retiring of credits and no double counting.[3]
[edit] Certifications and clients
The CarbonNeutral certification is a carbon eco label certifying a net zero carbon footprint. Currently, the company is working with approximately 500 clients around the world providing certifications for CarbonNeutral companies, CarbonNeutral services and CarbonNeutral products.
UPS, for example, offers carbon neutral shipping,[10] SAS Scandinavian Airlines provides carbon neutral fights,[11] and Avis Europe has carbon neutral operations and offers carbon neutral driving.[12]
[edit] See also
- Mitigation of global warming
- Climate change
- Carbon neutral
- Carbon offsets
- ICROA (Industry group of carbon offset providers)
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b Baderman, Law, Everyday Legends, (2006), pp. 80–85.
- ^ Adams, Jones, Doodson, Patel, Rees, Thompson, Carbon Jargon, (2008), pp.4-5.
- ^ a b http://www.carbonneutral.com/interface/files/aboutus/qualityassurance/The%20CarbonNeutral%20Protocol.pdf The CarbonNeutral Protocol
- ^ a b http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/index.jsp Patent and Trademark office
- ^ Financial Times, Why pop stars love to plant trees, 20.03.2003.
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0319262/trivia The Day after Tomorrow
- ^ http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/11/word_of_the_yea.php Word of the Year 2006
- ^ http://www.ecosecurities.com/Standalone/Carbon_Management_and_Offsetting_Trends_Survey_Results_2009/default.aspx Carbon Management and Offsetting Trends Survey 2009
- ^ http://www.carbonneutral.com/our-services/
- ^ http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Carbon-Neutral-Shipping-bw-2856891288.html?x=0&.v=1 Yahoo Finance
- ^ http://www.flysas.com/en/SAS-for-business/Conventions/Carbon-offset/?vst=true Scandinavian Airlines
- ^ http://www.avis.co.uk/blaharchivex00/1-Campaigns-old/Avis-Preferred-Discount/Avis-CarbonNeutral Avis Europe
[edit] References
- Baderman, James; Law, Justin (2006). Everyday Legends. York: Heslington. pp. 80–85. ISBN 0955013216.
- Adams, Tania; Jones, Emma; Doodson, Camilla; Patel, Sonja; Rees, Richard; Thompson, Marion (2008). Carbon Jargon. London: Pan Macmillan Ltd.. pp. 4, 5. ISBN 9781845250553.
