How can you do as a private person or company to reduce your own emissions?
As a private person, you can reduce your own emissions by, for example, starting to go more collectively and cycling instead of taking the car, flying less, eating more vegetarian and reducing food waste, shopping at second hand and having clothes change evenings with friends, choosing linear products and only buy circular, and choose an electricity and heating solution without fossil fuels.
It is difficult to reset your emissions. This is why organizations offer climate compensation that can supplement an already ongoing sustainability work.
By analyzing what your emissions come from, it is easier to take steps to reduce them. As a company, it is about analyzing your emissions to know how much greenhouse gases the business actually emits – and which sources primarily drive up emissions and how these can be changed.
Some companies, especially in producing operations, have their primary emissions within what is called scope 1, that is, direct greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of fossil fuels in manufacturing. Other companies have the main focus within scope 2, which concerns indirect greenhouse gas emissions from the consumption of electricity, district heating, and district cooling. Some companies have large emissions within scope 3 that relate to indirect emissions through the purchase of goods and services, e.g. travel, hotel nights, material consumption. As a company, you can develop different types of climate strategies. Simple tips to quickly reduce your emissions are to conduct more web-based meetings, travel less by air, switch to eco-labeled electricity and offer vegetarian diets at various types of events.
By working actively to reduce the climate impact and climate compensation for residual emissions, you / your company contribute to climate benefit. At the same time, you / your company are communicating to politicians, companies, employees, customers, friends, family and acquaintances that you take responsibility for the emissions that your / your company’s conduct entails and which you / your company have not yet managed to rectify.
Which climate compensates?
Many organizations work voluntarily to compensate for emissions. Many companies compensate climate for their entire business, while others compensate for a certain amount.
Studies show that companies that compensate for climate change reduce their emissions three times as fast as companies that do not compensate for climate change. Many companies also choose to compensate climate for more than they themselves release, which Vi-forest encourages. Today, everything from service companies to retail chains compensates through Vi-forest. Both large and small companies can compensate for the climate.
How do I do if my company / I want to get started with climate compensation?
The first step is to calculate the company’s / your emissions and see what drives them. If you do not control your emissions and want help with this, you can use the Vi-forest’s climate calculator. In the Climate Calculator it is possible to calculate emissions around travel, events, premises, certain purchases etc. If you want more specific emission calculations or strategies for action – contact donor service. By monitoring the company’s / your emissions and identifying the documents that cause them, the company can develop its sustainability work.
Reduce and avoid actions that can be replaced by others. Reduce emissions from the remaining documents. This can be eg involves low hanging measures such as having more meetings via the web and reviewing purchasing routines, but also reducing the company’s / your electricity consumption and making production efficiency improvements.
Compensate for the remaining, or more, of the company’s / your emissions.
What is important when choosing an organisation for climate compensation?
Today, there are a large number of players in the market who sell climate compensation. Interest in and need for services has increased significantly in recent years. Regardless of which player you choose. It is important that the project is certified by a recognized international standard. This is important not least with regard to eg. reporting how much coal a project has stored. In a certified project, a third party verifies that the carbon credits that the player sells really exist. Certification also ensures, among other things:
Measurable: Emission reductions must be quantifiable and have been achieved through well-known and recognized measurement methods. Verification must be done by an independent third party.
Verifiability: Emissions reductions should be regularly verified and calculated by third parties.
Traceability: The projects and their credits must be traceable and managed in a public register. This ensures that the carbon credits are not sold several times.
Permanence: Climate compensation should provide a permanent and long-term climate benefit.
What is Global Warming?
Earth’s average temperature is rising. The climate has historically always been changing, but in the last 100 years, the average temperature in the world has increased much faster than is normal. In other words, global warming is the unnatural rise in temperature that has affected humanity primarily through the burning of fossil fuels such as oil and coal.
In combustion, carbon dioxide is formed, one of the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. The greenhouse gases of the atmosphere emit short-wave radiation from the sun but partially absorb the long-wave heat radiation emitted by the earth. This causes the lower atmosphere of the earth to warm up and the earth gets warmer.
Global warming is a major threat to the planet and humanity as important ecosystems collapse and animal and plant species die out. The increased temperature also results in increasingly extreme weather such as drought and flooding. These are just some of the catastrophic consequences of global warming and are already causing great concern for humans and animals worldwide. Those most affected are people living in poverty who are unable to adapt to the climate change that warming brings.
What is climate compensation?
Climate compensation means that a certain amount of greenhouse gas emissions from an activity, which we have not been able to avoid, is offset by carbon dioxide being bound by measures that correspond to an equal or greater part, outside our own operations. This can be done by planting trees and using sustainable agricultural methods, or by investing in renewable energy, energy efficiency. There is also a regulated market for the purchase of emission rights.
Many organizations offer climate compensation through projects where small-scale farmers plant trees together with crops (so-called agroforestry) and use sustainable farming methods on their own farms. This means that trees and soil absorb the same amount of greenhouse gases that you wish to compensate for. The greenhouse gases that one wishes to compensate for are measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents (t CO2e). Vi-forest’s climate compensation is linked to the voluntary market where actors who wish to reduce their climate impact voluntarily operate.
Climate compensation through the voluntary market: Companies and private individuals can purchase a climate compensation credit that finances an effort that reduces greenhouse gas emissions, for example. through tree planting and sustainable agriculture.
Climate compensation through emission allowances: Companies pay for an emission allowance from the EU’s trading system. The goal is for companies to reduce their emissions in order to avoid costs for emission rights.
Climate compensation through UN-regulated Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects: Companies pay for a concrete measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through regulated projects.
A company’s direct and indirect emissions can be divided into three scopes according to The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG protocol). It is an accepted international accounting standard that is currently used by governments as well as companies and organizations. Companies can account for their emissions and compensate according to this classification.
Scope 1: All direct greenhouse gas emissions. This includes the combustion of fossil fuels (gasoline, oil and coal) that occur during production in self-owned factories or emissions from self-owned or leased vehicles/machines.
Scope 2: Indirect greenhouse gas emissions. These are emissions that arise from the consumption of electricity, district heating and district cooling.
Scope 3: Other indirect greenhouse gas emissions that are not included in scope 2 and that occur in a company’s value chain. This includes emissions from purchases of goods and services. This includes transport-related activities in vehicles that are not owned by the company, e.g. logistics, air travel, taxi. Outsourced activities as well as hotel nights, waste and material consumption are also included.
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