offset your business carbon dioxide emissions

Offsetting your businesses carbon dioxide emissions involves the removal of an equivalent or greater amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, compared with the emissions your organisation is responsible for. Combined with an effective emissions reduction strategy, these two measures can have a real effect on reducing the environmental impact of your organisation.

WLT offsets are measurable, verifiable and have the protection of critically endangered habitats and their biodiversity as their primary objective. WLT offsets are produced through restoration ecology projects currently taking place in Mexico and Ecuador although we are continually looking into possible expansion of the portfolio.

Male Green Honeycreeper,
Buenaventura, Ecuador
© Andrew Smiley

Carbon Neutrality – definition and application

Use of the term "carbon neutral" is becoming increasingly common in society, particularly in reference to businesses and other organisations. The expression implies that a person/organisation/activity has a net carbon footprint of zero.

In order to clarify what it sees as widespread misapplication of the term, the Department for Energy and Climate Change have, for the benefit of the wider public, introduced a code of guidance on carbon neutrality. According to this document:

"Carbon neutral means that – through a transparent process of calculating emissions, reducing those emissions and offsetting residual emissions – net carbon emissions equal zero"

Emphasis is placed on the necessity for a thorough, well-documented and fully disclosed review of an organisation’s emissions, and the process by which it targets and reduces those emissions. Offsetting is seen as a final step, used only for any unavoidable emissions.

This is very much in line with the approach that WLT has been advocating for many years, albeit calling for a more structured, precise and thoroughly-documented process. At the present time, however, this guidance restricts organisations wishing to claim "carbon neutral" status to the use of fully certified offsets. While all Carbon Balanced projects are designed to meet the demanding principles of the internationally recognised Climate Community and Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA) standards, they have not been submitted for certification due to the considerable expense this entails, and the limitations on flexibility and innovation in project design brought by such status.

As a result of the above, and recognising the role of the DECC in establishing a benchmark for declarations of carbon neutrality, the WLT therefore asks organisations to refrain from making claims of carbon neutrality in association with Carbon Balanced offsets.

For further information on our rigorous project design process please visit our Projects pages.

Carbon balanced companies receive a WLT certificate to acknowledge their support and permission to use the Carbon Balanced logo in conjunction with marketing materials. As a charity, WLT's most valuable assets are its reputation and the loyalty of its supporters and for this reason we are very careful not to participate in any ‘greenwash’ activities and carry out strict due diligence checks on all prospective carbon balanced companies. By remaining prudent, transparent and accountable in all its actions, WLT continues to be one of the most credible providers in the voluntary offset market.