FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q - What is a carbon credit?
A - A carbon credit (sometimes referred to as a carbon offset) is a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions that can be used to compensate for emissions elsewhere. It's essentially a credit that can be bought and sold. A carbon credit represents one tonne of CO2e that has been reduced or removed from the atmosphere.
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Q - What does CO2e stand for?
A - CO2e stands for Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Equivalent. It's a term used to measure the impact of the 7 primary greenhouses gases on climate change, by converting them to the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide. This allows for a single, standardized unit to compare the warming potential of various greenhouse gases.
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Q - How does it work?
A - Companies or individuals purchase carbon credits from projects that reduce or remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. This effectively cancels out the emissions generated by their activities.
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Q - Are there different types of carbon credit projects?
A - Yes, there are two main project types of carbon credits, ‘Avoidance’ & ‘Removal’. Avoidance projects prevent CO2e emissions from being released into the atmosphere, whilst Removal projects take existing CO2e emissions from our atmosphere.
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Q - What are some examples of Avoidance & Removal carbon credit projects?
A – Avoidance carbon credit projects include; renewable energy solar, hydro, wind. Cookstoves. Removal carbon credit projects can be further sub-categorised; 'Nature based' or 'Mechanical'. ‘Nature’ based Removal projects include reforestation, blue carbon, ‘Mechanical’ based Removal credits include CCS (Carbon Capture & Storage, Landfill Methane Capture.
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Q - How are offsets verified?
A - Reputable offset schemes are independently verified and audited to ensure the reductions are real, additional, and permanent. Examples of verification bodies include the Gold Standard, Verra VCS, UN CDM, Global Carbon Registry.
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Q - Is it just for businesses?
A – No, while businesses often use carbon offsetting, individuals can also participate through various programs or by supporting specific projects.
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Q - Should you offset or reduce emissions?
A - Reducing emissions should be the priority, as it directly tackles the root cause of climate change. Offsetting is often seen as a complementary measure for unavoidable emissions.
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Q - What are the benefits of offsetting?
A - Carbon offsetting can help businesses achieve sustainability goals, fund valuable projects, and support communities. It can also provide a way to address emissions from activities where reduction is difficult.
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Q - Are there any drawbacks?
A - Some concerns exist about the effectiveness of certain offset projects, the potential for "greenwashing" and the possibility of unintended consequences for local communities. This is why we only supply the very highest quality carbon credits, which have been independently verified by leading registry bodies and also have a minimum of 4 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s).
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Q – What Are United Nations SDG’s (Sustainable Development Goals)?
A – SDG’s are a set of 17 interconnected goals adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure peace and prosperity for all by 2030. They address a wide range of global challenges, including poverty, hunger, health, education, inequality, climate change, and environmental degradation.
Q - How much do carbon credits cost?
A - The cost of carbon credits varies depending on the type of project (avoidance or removal), vintage, country of origin. Check out our latest projects available to purchase from our online shop or get in contact with us if you have specific requirements.
Q - Are there any UK-specific carbon offsets I can purchase?
A – Yes, we have a number of projects based in the UK available to purchase from our online shop. They come with a minimum 4 SDG’s and are from 2021 onwards.
Q – Can I reuse Carbon Credits?
A – No, a carbon credit is a single use credit, which MUST be retired back to the registry with the reason for mitigation. This will produce a ‘Certificate of Retirement’ that we will issue to the purchaser, stating the volume of carbon credits retired, the reason for mitigation, the project details, the unique carbon credit certificate numbers for audit purposes. When you purchase your carbon credits, we will ask for the retirement details and issue the ‘Certificate of Retirement’.
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Q – Can I resell my unused carbon credits?
A- Yes, as long as the carbon credits you can resell them in the future or retire them in the future. People are purchasing carbon credits as an investment. To find out more about ‘Investing in Carbon Credits’ please contact us.
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Q - What is 'Leakage' in Carbon Credits?
A - Leakage occurs when some effects of an offset occur outside the project's carbon accounting boundary (e.g. an action causing emissions reductions in one place may also cause increases elsewhere).
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Q - Can I use any Carbon Credit for Carbon Neutral certification?
A- No, 2025 has seen a transition from PAS2060 to ISO14068-1 Carbon Neutral certification and one of the key differences is the 'qualities' of the Carbon Credits that can be used to mitigate the remaining carbon emissions, which include; i) real GHG emission reductions or real GHG removal enhancements, ii) demonstrate using a robust assessment that shows the activity would not have occurred in the absence of the GHG project,
iii)measurable in accordance with approved carbon crediting programme methodologies, iv) permanent or shall be issued by a carbon crediting programme that has adequate safeguard in place to ensure the risk of reversal is minimised, v) certified, vi) carbon credits for which the end of the vintage is no more than five years prior to the start of the period for which the entity is claiming carbon neutrality. vii) only carbon credits that represent GHG emission reductions or GHG removals that have already occurred, viii) listed in a public registry, with unique serial numbers that provide evidence of their permanent retirement.
