Classic Portfolio
Carbon Offset Portfolio supporting a diverse range of climate projects
Carbon Offset Solutions
The Carbon Offset market is maturing. Improving standards and increasing demand are driving quality and transparency but are also making it difficult to predict cost and availability. We have developed a portfolio which is constantly introducing new projects as as old projects have their certificates retired. This ensures cost stability on a rolling basis for clients that want to lock in budget certainty.
The Classic Portfolio
The Classic Portfolio offsets carbon through a curated selection of verified offset projects. The portfolio's mix changes over time as credits are retired and new projects are brought into the portfolio. Our aim is to ensure that we can offer price stability whilst ensuring maximum positive climate impact.
Project Selection
We select projects for the Classic Portfolio from verified standards to ensure your offsetting is of a quality and standard that will meet scruitiny in years to come. We select from projects involved with Carbon removal, Carbon Avoidance and Reforestation schemes. This ensures a spread of project types that provide benefit to the environment accross the spectrum.
Every Project we select must require funding in order to success. If a project would be profitable on it's own then they aren't eligible to become a part of our portfolio.
For Instance, if a land owner has protected their forest for hundreds of years and there is no reason that they'd start logging now, we won't support their project. Their forest will likely remain standing without money from our offsets.
Similarly, in most cases today, renewable energy projects can be highly profitable. We wouldn't fund a renewable engineering project unless we could be certain their offsets need funding. A large proportion of our current portfolio is made up of carbon credits from technology projects set up a decade ago, when renewable technology was inherently more expensive. This is an example of how investment at the early stage of technology has helped not only the immediate community to reduce their emissions (such as solar thermal where previously wood was burnt) but also how the project funding contributed to the technology becoming more prevelant and affordable.
By offsetting, you are building momentum in an industry that is not only finding new ways of reducing carbon emissions, but also improving biodiversity, habitat and living standards.
Example's of projects in our portfolio can be found below.
Nature Based Offsets
Typically make up 30% of the portfolio
Certified Carbon Removal projects that extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. These may take the form of Afforestation, Reforestation and Revegetation. projects sequester and lock up carbon and support biodiversity.
Forestry
These are projects that involve afforestation (planting trees on previously unforested land) and reforestation (restoring forests on degraded land)
Agroforestry
Projects that integrating trees with crops and livestock on the same land, combining food production with carbon sequestration.
Wetland Restoration
Wetlands are a significant carbon sink. Unchecked industrialisation has seen
Mangrove Restoration
Protecting and restoring coastal mangrove forests which are highly effective at storing carbon.
Ocean Based Solutions
These include initiatives like seaweed farming that can enhance ocean carbon sinks.
Technology Offsets
Typically make up 70% of the portfolio
Technology based credits use novel technologies to remove carbon dioxide straight out of the atmosphere. These tend to perform better in terms of the storage durability of the removed carbon.
Renewables
Renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, and hydropower, generate electricity without emitting greenhouse gases, reducing reliance on fossil fuels. Whilst these projects needed support 10-15 years ago, technology costs have reduced and generally renewable energy projects can be supported by their own merit. We tend not to support these projects any more.
Biochar
Biochar is a stable form of carbon made by heating organic material in a low-oxygen environment (pyrolysis). It can sequester carbon in the soil for centuries.
Direct Air Capture
Wetlands are a significant carbon sink. Unchecked industrialisation has seen
Enhanced Rock Weathering
This method uses finely ground silicate rocks, like basalt, on land to speed up natural mineral weathering, which absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere.
Bio Energy and Carbon Capture
Combines biomass energy production with carbon capture and storage technology, capturing CO2 during biomass energy generation.
Mineralisation
A process where CO2 reacts with certain minerals to form stable carbonate compounds, such as carbonated cement, locking away CO2 in a solid form.
Marine Carbon
Achieved through ocean alkalinity enhancement, adding alkaline substances to seawater to increase the ocean's natural carbon sink.
Clean Cookstoves
The main objective of clean cookstove projects is to reduce the reliance on these harmful cooking methods by introducing more efficient stoves that significantly lower emissions of greenhouse gases.
Gas Capture
Involves capturing greenhouse gases like landfill gas, methane gas, and refrigerant gas, preventing their release into the atmosphere.
Types Of Credit
There are two main types of carbon projects.
Carbon avoidance credits
Avoidance credits are generated by projects that prevent emissions from being released into the atmosphere. These projects avoid additional emissions rather than remove existing emissions,
Avoidance credits were created initially for the protection of the Amazon, preventing land owners from selling trees on their land for agricultural and forestry activities. This helped to put a price on preservation. Soon after that, Cookstoves, Renewables and other Land Use and Management projects that avoid the emotion of GHGs evolved and became recognised, becoming a part of the carbon credit sphere.
Avoidance credits have to be able to prove that they prevented emissions that would have occurred without an intervention e.g. That a group of trees would have been cut down if it hadn't been prevented through 'the' intervention.
Carbon removal credits
Removal credits are generated by projects that physically remove carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. This process result in a net decrease in atmospheric greenhouse gases.
Removal credits are essentual for achieving Net Zero emissions, especially for addressing legacy emissions.
Avoidance credits are crucial in the transition to a low-carbon economy by preventing new emissions.
Carbon Accounting, Net Zero pathways, Offsetting and Certification
Helping Business make an impact on Climate Change