Becoming Carbon Neutral: Our Commitment to the Planet

This REDD+ project invests in the women and men living in and depending on the forests of the Orinoco river basin in Colombia; to make a lasting change in behavior towards sustainable practices, forest protection and conservation. Forest protection efforts must take a holistic approach to conservation emphasizing community, specifically education and gender equality.

This project is a high impact way to stop deforestation, supporting all 17 SDGs. As a community, the project participants protect over 1 million hectares of tropical forests in the Indigenous Reservations of Colombia, while safeguarding its biodiversity and providing education, healthcare, sanitation, food security, among other co-benefits for over 15,000 indigenous people. The project has eight parts: surveillance of the area, improvement of systems, strengthening governance, development of family-based agri-food systems, training and education programs indigenous communities, non-timber forest products, validation, monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV).

Located in Indonesian Borneo, known as Kalimantan, this project protects nearly 150,000 hectares of peatland ecosystems. It is surrounded by villages for which it supports traditional livelihoods including farming, fishing, and non-timber forest products harvesting. Without carbon finance, the area would likely be converted for industrial plantations.

Tropical peatlands store massive amounts of carbon, with stocks below the ground making up to 20 times the amount stored in trees and vegetation. When cleared, drained and burned to make way for plantations and other developments, this carbon is released into the atmosphere along with other greenhouse gases.

The area stores vast amounts of carbon and plays a vital role in stabilizing water flows, preventing devastating peat fires, enriching soil nutrients and providing clean water. It is rich in biodiversity, being home to large populations of many high conservation value species, including some of the world’s most endangered; such as the Bornean Orangutan and Proboscis Monkey.

With the help of carbon financing, the Gola Rainforest National Park was established to better protect the 70,000-hectare Park, the 70,000-hectare buffer zone, and the millions of metric tons of carbon that are locked within it.

Gola's previous Forest Reserve status did not prohibit small-scale logging operations, industrial and artisanal mining, and agricultural activities, and the forest area was under threat of rapid deforestation and degradation.

This project is enabling local stakeholders (government, communities and national NGOs) to manage this entire landscape sustainably, to benefit local communities and wildlife.

All the project's efforts, from National Park Forest Guard employment opportunities to the establishment of a cocoa farmer's co-operative, contribute to the rebuilding of lives after a decade of civil war and the Ebola outbreak.

Renewable energy projects in this portfolio are vital to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the growing global demand for energy and build sustainable infrastructure. These projects also contribute to the local economy and livelihood of residents through the creation of jobs. These include full-time maintenance and operational roles, and temporary roles during planning and construction.

Energy generation is one of the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, and renewable energy investment is a fast and effective solution to reduce these emissions. Carbon finance, delivered by companies like us who offset their emissions, provide essential funds to support the development of these global renewable projects.

Deforestation in Brazil has accounted for nearly a third of the global decline in forest cover in recent years. Without sustainable options, some communities will clear land to earn a living through agriculture. The project area is rich in biodiversity with 345 bird species and 12 flora and fauna that are IUCN endangered species.

This project prevents the deforestation of 186,000 hectares of Amazon rainforest, located between the States of Acre and Amazonas. The land is divided into 30 annual management units, with forestry limited to one unit per year. This means that 97% of this area of rainforest is left fully protected and is given 29 years to regenerate.

Carbon finance drives emissions reductions, protects biodiversity and empowers local communities. In addition to preserving forest, the project also works with local communities to provide better incomes and education. The project has invested in community education and training in sustainable forestry practices, promoting knowledge sharing in local communities.

Chile has ambitious plans for renewable energy sources like wind and solar. By 2035, the government wants a majority of electricity generated in the country to come from renewable sources, and by 2050 the goal is for over two thirds of to come from renewables.

This project installed 22 new wind turbines in El Morro in the region of Bio Bio, Chile, which is 500 km south of Santiago. The clean, renewable power generated will feed into Chile's Sistema Interconectado Central (Central Interconnected Grid) the main national power grid.

The project activity supplies zero-emissions electricity to the grid, thus avoiding greenhouse gases emissions by displacing fossil-fuel power plants. The wind farm construction and maintenance also contribute to the global transfer of skills and resources needed to achieve a zero-emission future.

This award-winning project has created almost 420 acres of new wetlands, established an environmental education centre and generates electricity from the landfill gas (LFG) to power 18,000 homes. The electricity is generated by capturing methane from LFG emitted by the 178 acre expansion to the Seneca Meadows landfill site - New York's largest non-hazardous solid waste facility. The project demonstrates that it is possible to make significant reductions in the greenhouse gas (GHG) impact of landfill projects, while showcasing how carbon finance can be used to extend environmental stewardship.

Solar water heaters (SWH) provide households, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and institutions with an in-house hot water supply fueled by renewable energy rather than carbon intensive grid electricity. The project is primarily focused on serving urban areas throughout the country, and manufactures, distributes, installs and maintains solar water heaters for a variety of residential, commercial and community buildings. The project uses a range of channels to distribute the solar water heaters, primarily private entrepreneurs or larger entities that act as solar water heater dealers and franchise sub-dealers. Some units are also sold directly to customers, and in some instances, partnerships with city, state and regional governments are also used for distribution. The project developer conducts awareness programmes in schools and general public exhibitions to help increase uptake of its solar products.