Offset while you work
A company called Vebnet, which supplies technology and support services for employee benefits, has announced a service enabling 250 000 UK employees to help combat climate change directly through their monthly pay. In partnership with PURE – the Clean Planet Trust, individuals can calculate their emissions online and compensate the environment for their own CO2 pollution by “giving as they earn” through the flexible benefits programme provided by their employer. By combining PURE’s and Vebnet’s online technology, employees from 170 UK companies can take responsibility for their household and travel emissions, offsetting all or part in monthly payments from their pay.

SMALLER ORGANIZATIONS

For organizations in general, to offset their emissions they have to decide whether they are worried about direct emissions generated during operations; product life-cycle emissions, linked to a product from cradle to grave; or emissions arising from a specific activity, such as business travel or commuting. These questions should be answered by the GHG inventory that is in the beginning of the process. Among others, one GHG calculator especially developed for businesses is at www.safeclimate.net/calculator. For non-individuals, online calculators from offset providers on their websites are in most cases not specific enough. However, many offset providers offer their services in helping to calculate the emissions to their customers.

Depending on the amount of offsets you need to purchase, you might want to choose the type of project you would like to invest in. As mentioned above, commonly there is a certain minimum amount required, but it might be worth looking into that option in the interest of your organization or for advertizing your efforts.

The GHG emissions of the FIFA World Cup in 2006 in Germany were entirely compensated with carbon offsets that were financed by the sponsors of the event and the FIFA. Until then it was the biggest single offsetting project and it was executed by MyClimate in Switzerland. It was requested that the emissions reduction projects should regard environmental and sus-