January 1, 2010 – 6:49 am
It’s just over a month since the new version of Carbon Catalog was released, allowing each carbon provider to log in and maintain their own listings. Around 20 providers have already done so, and we look forward to many more stepping up in the coming year.
And now for something new. Over the past couple of years I’ve received many requests from researchers and analysts wanting access to the raw data in Carbon Catalog. In response, to mark the new year, Carbon Catalog is now offering free download access to its data for any internal or non-commercial purposes. If this interests you, just head over to the Download Data page, ensure you understand the terms and conditions, and grab what you need.
I look forward to hearing how else we can be helpful. In the meantime, a very happy 2010.
September 21, 2009 – 2:39 am
Those of you following Carbon Catalog’s front page might have noticed the relative absence of recent updates. This reflects more than just a summer slowdown.
Over the next couple of months, a new version of Carbon Catalog will be released, which significantly expands the remit of the site. Carbon Catalog is to become a general directory for carbon credits of all varieties, not just “carbon offsets” sold directly to consumers or small businesses.
To facilitate this change, Carbon Catalog will be allowing providers to enter their information directly after registering for the site. Providers will also be invited to describe their projects in detail via the online interface, and enter information on vintages, standards and per-project pricing.
This service will be entirely free for carbon providers, whether they are selling to corporations, industrial plants or consumers. Our goal is to make Carbon Catalog as extensive and informative as possible. Project listings can include VERs, CERs and credits within any new trading scheme that might arise in future.
This transition will be accompanied by a de-emphasis on Carbon Catalog’s ratings system. While the site was focused on consumer offsets, these ratings were vital in helping consumers evaluate their options. Now that we’re broadening to the wider carbon market, where buyers tend to be more savvy, the ratings have a lot less value. (Ratings might also tempt providers who are managing their own profiles to enter biased information.)
If you are a provider already listed in Carbon Catalog, an account will be created for you automatically, and we’ll contact you shortly with the details so that you can take control of your listings. If you are provider who is not yet listed, drop us a line and we’ll be sure to inform you when the new site is released.
It’s two years since the first version of Carbon Catalog was released, and I’ve been blown away by how much cooperation and interest the site has received. I look forward to this transition carrying Carbon Catalog well into the future, and making it an even more valuable resource for the carbon trading community.
 As in the two previous years, Ecosystem Marketplace and New Carbon Finance have released their annual report on the state of the voluntary carbon markets.
The document, subtitled Fortifying the Foundation, is based on the reported activity during 2008 of 182 developers, aggregators, brokers and retailers of voluntary carbon credits.
It’s easy to be encouraged by the first paragraph in the executive summary. Global transaction volume jumped from 66m tonnes of CO2e in 2007 to 123.4m tonnes in 2008. But dig a little deeper, and the picture isn’t so rosy.
Read More »
April 28, 2009 – 11:05 am
 In a little more than a week, Europe’s largest conference on corporate social responsibility (CSR) - The Responsible Business Summit - will be taking place in the UK on May 11 and 12 in London. If you are working in the area of the environment, or just think that CSR is something you would like your company to be a part of, then this conference may be up your alley.
Until a few years ago, when people starting buying carbon offsets and trimming their carbon emissions, CSR might have meant donating corporate money and time to a local kids’ soccer team, or giving money to the poor. Now with more complicated issues at stake, like climate change, CSR is not just an opportunity to market your company, it is in some cases an imperative in order to stay relevant.
Of course your business might be suffering from the economic downturn, but how to come out shining, despite the crisis, is something top CEOs from around the world will be speaking about at the annual event. Mitigating corporate risks and taking charge of your responsibility in fighting climate change, will be an important part of the conference. Among the expert speakers will be Anders Dahlvig, the CEO of IKEA, Jeff Swartz, the CEO of Timberland, and Daniel Franklin, the CEO of the Economist.
Attendees will be able to learn how to seamlessly embed CSR activities into their business plan, while learning how to mitigate climate risk with less money and resources. Speakers, like the ones we’ve mentioned above, will be giving corporate players opportunities one should be focusing on today. Additionally, some cost-cutting and environmentally sound business tips will be part of the day as business leaders speak about how to run operations on a tighter budget without compromising the company’s ethics and values.
That’s right, folks! The recent economic collapse in the US, which is sending shock waves around the world, doesn’t mean you have to toss your company’s carbon offsetting ideas out the window.
For more about the conference, see the website of Ethical Corporation.
If you’d like a little more to chew on, and to start investigating carbon offsets to buy, or how they work, visit Carbon Catalog’s directory. European-based readers might find our European carbon offset providers, a good place to start.
And of course, there’s our very handy book review on 5 Books For Greening Your Business.
April 19, 2009 – 12:33 am
 They may be behind in women’s rights, but two Middle East countries Qatar and United Arab Emirates seem to be ahead of the pack in their bid to fight global warming. Two important announcements were made in the last week:
Etihad Airways from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced that it is working with Masdar - the same body developing the world’s first carbon neutral city - to measure, manage and reduce the carbon footprint of the international carrier. It will focus on sustainable and energy-efficient measures, reports the company.
According to a company-issued press release Masdar will help Etihad develop carbon management solutions so the company complies with the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, coming into effect for aviation in 2012, and Masdar will also support the airline’s voluntary carbon reduction initiatives.
Read More »
 First discussed on Carbon Catablog a year ago, the UK government has finally launched its “Quality Assurance Scheme for Carbon Offsetting”.
A quality mark, shown alongside, can be used by offset providers to label specific carbon offsets that meet the government’s guidelines. (Our inclusion of the mark here is for informative purposes, and bears no relation to the offsets listed in Carbon Catalog.)
So what does the mark actually mean? Read More »
January 6, 2009 – 7:38 am
 Airlines striking deals with carbon offsetters might not like this development, but we sure do: San Francisco International Airport will soon be offering certified carbon offset credits for purchase at kiosks inside the airport.
It is the first airport to offer such kiosks in the world. The only thing we don’t like about the service is the 30% transaction fee.
Working like the check-in kiosks at airports, a flyer would punch in their destination, and the computer would calculate how much it would cost to offset the journey. Paying with a credit card, offsetting a two hour flight inside the US is expected to cost about $4 and a flight from San Francisco to Europe about $36, making the offset process easy and straightforward. And not altogether that costly, compared to the cost of the flight.
Read More »
December 5, 2008 – 2:06 am
You might see their little purple delivery truck zooming around a street near you –– if you live in the Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles or Vancouver areas. Painted with the word spud! (for Small Potatoes Urban Delivery), the little green grocer on wheels is setting a fine example for small business owners everywhere.
By taking orders for local and organic foods online, not only does spud! help save the environment by reducing transport emissions, it also has a number of philanthropy activities and programs that give back to the earth.
One of spud!’s goals is to be a carbon neutral company by the end of this year. Carbon Catalog speaks with Normal Hill, the procedures coordinator
of spud! on the nuts and bolts of going carbon neutral.
Some advice your business can glean from our interview: you can pass the cost of offsetting onto consumers –– in spud!’s case that’s 22 cents a delivery; watch out for fluctuating currency exchange rates; and –– says Hill –– one of the biggest challenges any business can face, may be changing the habits of your employees.
Did you feel pressure from your customers to become carbon neutral? No, we made the decision proactively, because we want to become an even more sustainable business, and because we believe that all businesses must do as much as possible to address the climate change crisis. Read More »
December 2, 2008 – 3:23 am
 As we’ve mentioned before, most carbon offsets are purchased by companies rather than individuals. In the past few months, two interesting reports have been published relating to this growing market — one for corporate offsetters, and one about them.
Read More »
October 24, 2008 – 5:02 am
 Considering the financial implosion happening around the globe, I can’t help but feel a little strange writing about carbon offsets. With stock markets down up to 50%, banks evaporating, and whole countries going bankrupt, who has the time or money to think about carbon emissions?
But the Earth hasn’t stopped turning and we haven’t stopped pouring carbon into the atmosphere. Nor have we stopped burning up our fossil fuels. At best we’ve slowed down a little.
I’d take things a step further. The capitalist system depends on constant economic growth. We expect interest rates above the rate of inflation. This allows us to get richer, in terms of real-world goods, simply by lending out money. But the economy depends on a finite planet. What happens when we run into the limits of this planet, like depleted oil reserves or climate-induced shrinkage of the agriculture base? How can we keep growing then?
Read More »
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