12 Months of Responsible Business: Part 10 – Purchasing Carbon Credits

How businesses can embrace sustainable offsetting in a new era

Background

While reducing carbon emissions has to be the key long-term goal of any responsible business, it takes time to see the impact of carbon accounting and the implementation of a reduction plan. Our North Star guides us to work fast in making a difference, so we decided to take immediate action to address our carbon footprint while working towards our broader carbon reduction objectives.

Historically, carbon offsetting has received criticism, as many projects did not deliver the intended climate benefits. This led to the widespread perception that carbon credits were a "get-out-of-jail-free card" for businesses to continue emitting without genuine change. However, more recent reports, such as the Oxford Principles, have shown that while reducing emissions must always be the first priority, purchasing carbon credits can play a crucial role in achieving net zero at a societal level. The Oxford Principles have emphasised that carbon credits should be seen as a complementary strategy to direct emissions reductions.

A key part of this movement is the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM), which is supporting the adoption of the Core Carbon Principles (CCPs) to help regulate and certify high-quality carbon credits. Businesses should stay updated on these developments to ensure that the credits they purchase align with these evolving standards, as things can change quickly.

Our Process

After careful consideration, we chose to partner with Ecologi, a climate solutions platform renowned for its commitment to transparency and high-quality carbon credits. However, there are many other potential partners you can explore to find the best fit for your business. In selecting credits for our last 2022-2023 measurement period (we’re in the final stages of our 2023-2024 period now), we opted to purchase carbon credits equivalent to 50% of our total emissions for the period.

We decided to diversify our carbon credit portfolio by investing in both carbon avoidance and carbon removal projects. This approach was important for two key reasons:

• Risk management: Just before making our purchase, certain energy-based carbon credit projects were excluded from certification due to concerns that these projects could proceed without the additional support of carbon credits. By diversifying our portfolio, we reduced exposure to projects that may fail to meet the highest standards if certification criteria were to change.
• Alignment with our goals: We ensured that our chosen projects were in line with our shortlisted UN Sustainable Development Goals, including Reduced Inequalities and Gender Equality as well as Climate Action. An example of this is funding fuel-efficient cookstoves in Uganda which can help local job creation, accessible technology and even reduce the risk of violence in the area.

Results

• Mitigating immediate impact: By purchasing carbon credits, we were able to mitigate 50% of our total emissions for the 2022-2023 period. This immediate action has helped us balance our environmental impact while we continue to implement long-term strategies to reduce emissions.
• Supporting sustainable projects: The carbon credits we purchased contributed to high-quality projects that directly support environmental restoration and climate action. These projects include carbon removal through afforestation in São Paulo, Brazil, fuel-efficient cookstoves in Uganda, delta blue carbon in Pakistan, peatland restoration and conservation in Indonesia, and methane emission avoidance from landfill in Brazil. This mix of carbon removal and avoidance projects ensures that we’re making a meaningful contribution to global sustainability efforts.

Actionable Tips for Other Businesses

1. Emissions Accounting Comes First: Measure your carbon footprint using robust accounting methods (covered earlier in our ‘Responsible Business’ series). This is the foundation for understanding your impact and planning effective action.
2. Research High-Quality Carbon Credits: Look for credits with the Core Carbon Principles (CCP) label from the ICVCM. This ensures you’re supporting verified, impactful projects like those under Gold Standard or Verra.
3. Find the Right Carbon Credit Provider: We partnered with Ecologi for its verified projects and user-friendly dashboard, which engages employees by showcasing our efforts. Other options include going direct with certifiers like Gold Standard or exploring other sustainability consultancies.
4. Consider Your Budget: Prices range from about £7.30/tonne CO2e for nature-based carbon avoidance projects to £250+/tonne CO2e for projects using emerging technologies. Higher-cost projects can drive innovation but ensure you balance your investment with budget for carbon reduction initiatives.
5. Diversify Your Investments: Support a mix of carbon removal and avoidance projects across different sectors. This not only spreads risk but also maximises the variety of positive impacts your contributions can achieve.

Alignment with Our North Star, Guiding Principles and CSR Goals

This initiative supports our focus on the UN Sustainable Development Goal of Climate Action, while also reflecting our guiding principles: "Get it Done" and "Leave it Better Than You Find It." It directly ties to our North Star: “Gemba understands its responsibility to the broader world and to do our part in creating a better future for all.” When planning a similar project, using your own company values and principles can help narrow down your decisions

Follow our Progress

If you don’t already know us, Gemba Advantage is a UK tech company (very recently becoming part of a wider group consisting of Actica Consulting, Ntegra and Gemba Advantage). Gemba creates secure, scalable, and sustainable software for mission-driven clients.

Be sure to keep coming back to our series, where we reflect on 12 months of responsible business from the perspective of our SME. We hope these insights inspire your company to try some of these initiatives in the year ahead, or if you’re already ahead of the curve, to continue pushing forward on your own responsible business journey.

Louise, CSR Manager, Gemba Advantage.