Choosing how to offset your carbon dioxide emissions is complicated business. Readers have been asking us: what’s the difference between providers who offset for profit, and those who offset as non-profit organizations?

In our quest to find some answers we spoke with five different prominent non-profit providers from around the world – the United States, France, the UK, Canada and Switzerland.

Concern about global warming was the common denominator for all, as well as offering tax credits only to citizens of the country they were operating within. But each offered a different rationale for the non-profit designation.

Of course we’ll be able to paint a more colorful picture of carbon offset providers when we interview for-profit providers in the coming weeks. Until then, here’s some non-profit tidbits that we picked out from the interviews.
Although Canada’s Offsetters is a non-profit, its founder James Tansey says the “limitations of a not for profit are significant.” He explains, “it is difficult to secure funds to invest in growth and it is very hard to invest strategically in longer term offset projects.”

For this reason, Offsetters is planning to morph into a hybrid organization, offering both non-profit and for-profit models. “We also think that it would be inappropriate for offsets to be charitable donations as they should be a normal business expense.”

In Switzerland, myclimate offers tax deductions to Swiss nationals, but the organization is also trying to obtain non-profit status in Germany and the UK so that other Europeans can enjoy the same tax breaks.

Unlike Tansey from Offsetters, myclimate’s Kathrin Dellantonio seems surprised to hear that for profit providers may be more competitive in the long-run. She says, “I am hearing this criticism for the first time. As we don’t have any profit interests, we guarantee that the largest percentage of the money goes to the projects. This is always one of the most important criteria for companies and individuals to offset with us!”

Phil Wolski from UK’s PURE tells Carbon Catablog that in the UK when a taxpayer donates £1 to PURE, they can claim Gift Aid.

Because PURE is a UK registered charity it receives another 28p from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) representing a rebate of the income tax previously paid by that individual on that amount.

We also like how UK citizens are able to offset with PURE through the payroll. When are other countries going to adopt this policy?

In France, Action Carbone’s Ruy Korscha Anaya de la Rosa doesn’t like to think in terms of competition (non-profit versus for profit providers). He says, “All the carbon market participants are fighting for the same cause: to cool down our planet. We must not forget that we are dealing with global warming in here!”

He does point out that non-profits usually do not have the means to build large-scale projects. “However, the percentage channeled to the project from an offset paid to a non-profit organization is generally larger than from a for-profit company,” says Anaya de la Rosa.

Russel Simon from CarbonFund believes that being a non-profit allows his organization to focus on its sole mission:

“Being a nonprofit allows us to focus solely on our mission: reduce greenhouse gases, fighting global warming, hastening the transition to a clean energy future.

“As I said before, Carbonfund.org was founded as a nonprofit to provide a public good, and yes, we believe climate change is an ethical issue.”

In the coming weeks, Carbon Catablog will be interviewing for profit offset providers. Drop us a line in the comments if you have any specific questions or providers you would like us to focus on.