To be Carbon Conscious is to be Carbon Aware of your carbon footprint. KlimaMarks is on a mission to empower hundreds of millions of consumers and businesses world-wide to become carbon conscious by taking action to measure, reduce and compensate for their impact on the world.

Carbon credits, also known as carbon allowances, work like permission slips for emissions. When a company buys a carbon credit, usually from the government, they gain permission to generate one ton of CO2 emissions.

Every person in a developed country produces an average of 10 tonnes of carbon each year. But there’s something you can do. While the terms “carbon credits” and “carbon offsets” are often used interchangeably, they refer to two distinct products that serve two different purposes. Carbon offset: A removal of GHGs from the atmosphere. Carbon credit: A reduction in GHGs released into the atmosphere.

Unless you represent a large corporation, you’re unlikely to be able to purchase a carbon offset directly from the source company. For now.

Instead, you’ll need to turn to one of the growing number of third-party companies that function as intermediaries. While this may seem like an added step, these companies offer a few advantages.

In an effort to curb climate change, big companies like Microsoft, Google, and Starbucks are setting ambitious goals to achieve carbon neutrality and the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) is helping them to do so.

The VCM gives companies, non-profit organizations, governments, and individuals the opportunity to buy and sell carbon offset credits. A carbon offset is an instrument that represents the reduction of one metric tonne of carbon dioxide or GHG emissions.

To put this in perspective, to capture one ton of CO2 emissions you would have to grow approximately 50 trees for one-year.

Companies that are unable to reach their greenhouse gas (GHG) emission targets can purchase carbon offset credits by investing in environmental projects that can avoid, reduce, or remove carbon emissions.

When purchasing carbon offset credits, consumers should only consider offsets that are third-party verified.

There are a number of standards that use different methodologies for measuring and verifying carbon emission reduction. These standards provide a robust verification process to ensure the credibility of emission reduction projects. The most widely used standard include:

• Verra (The Verified Carbon Standard)

• Plan Vivo

• The Gold Standard

• The American Carbon Registry

• Climate Action Reserve

• The Verified Carbon Standard Program