FAQs–Offset Climate Certified®
What’s the difference between Offset Climate Certified and being carbon neutral?
Carbon neutral is a term that in general means you have balanced (offset) the CO2e emissions created by your business activities, by financially supporting the verified reduction or removal of the same amount of CO2e emissions through a project elsewhere. Over time, the term carbon neutral has become increasingly vague, because it does not clearly define which CO2e emissions one measures and offsets. For instance, some companies claim carbon neutrality because they have measured and offset their Scope 1 and 2 emissions, but do not address their Scope 3 emissions.
Offset Climate Certified is based on a standard measurement and offset framework specifically built for small, service based businesses. It addresses the most common types of emissions that a small business creates through its operations, most of which fall into Scope 3. Because it’s consistent and transparent, it’s easy to identify what it means when a business is Offset Climate Certified.
And finally, carbon neutral means that you have compensated for the same amount of CO2e that you have contributed to the atmosphere during a specific time period. Offset Climate Certified goes beyond carbon neutral, and compensates for 150% of your measured emissions. This helps address legacy emissions (ones you emitted in years prior to your first certification, and that are still out in our atmosphere).
How do I know that the carbon offsets used for my certification are only used for my certification, and not “double counted”?
Transparency is a core value of Offset Climate Certified. When your business completes certification, verified carbon offsets are permanently “retired” on carbon registries like Verra in your business name like this example. Verified carbon offsets all have a unique serial number. When a carbon offset is retired in your business name, that serial number is recorded and permanently removed from being able to be used by anyone else. The registry maintains a permanent, public record of your verified CO2e reduction.
Why are we required to provide specific business travel details when getting certified?
If your team travels a lot for business, and especially if they take a lot of flights, this will most likely be your largest emission source. While some of your certification measurement is based on spend data (e.g. how much did you spend on office supplies in the measurement year), business travel–and especially flights, are highly variable. For example, that flash sale flight from coast-to-coast costs less than a last minute regional flight, but has a much higher emission related to it.