Our OK Carbon Sourcing team has unrivalled access to offset projects being developed and carbon credits being sold throughout the world.
The team's network of contacts, expertise at procuring carbon credits, knowledge of the requirements for quality assurance and understanding of the processes for validating, verifying, registering and retiring carbon credits, means we are in a unique position to offer businesses a full range of carbon offset purchasing options.
Read how companies reduce emissions, costs and win new business with the OK Carbon® accreditation.
Businesses which take action on carbon reductions by committing to meaningful targets will gain strategic benefit by preparing themselves for the future and generate immediate business value.
Whatever the objectives behind your carbon management programme, it is essential to set a carbon reduction goal which delivers against these objectives in a credible and measurable manner.
In order to demonstrate leadership within their industry, many companies choose to become OK Carbonl® immediately by setting a net zero emissions target achieved through implementing an offset-inclusive carbon management strategy.
However, others may choose to set a staggered target which incentivises them to reduce by a percentage over time. Whatever your reduction objectives, OK CARBON can help you to set and achieve a reductions target which enables you to meet your business objectives in a credible manner.
Our mission is to be the trusted partner to companies committed to reducing their carbon footprint with solutions that strengthen their business.
Our comprehensive knowledge of the carbon market, combined with our unwavering commitment to understanding clients’ needs and delivering beyond their expectations, is what drives our approach
We work for the success of our clients, your company and our climate : Empowering You Your Business and Global Environment
Scientific consensus states that carbon emissions must be reduced by 80% by 2050 to avoid catastrophic climate change. Businesses have an important and essential role to play in meeting these targets and carbon offsetting enables them to play their part in the climate change battle.
Carbon offsets are credits for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions made at another location, such as wind farms which create renewable energy and reduce the need for fossil-fuel powered energy.
Carbon offsets are quantified and sold in metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO²e). Buying one tonne of carbon offsets means there will be one less tonne of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than there would otherwise have been. This could be, for example, a project to swap coal-fired power stations with solar panels or hydro power. Carbon offsetting is often the fastest way to achieve the deepest reductions within businesses and it also often delivers added benefits at the project site, such as employment opportunities, community development programmes and training and education.
For a carbon offset to be credible it must meet essential quality criteria, including proof that it is additional (the reduction in emissions would not have occurred without the carbon finance), that it will be retired from the carbon market so it cannot be double counted, and that it addresses issues such as permanence (it delivers the reductions it stated) and leakage (the emission reduction in one area doesn’t cause an increase in emissions somewhere else).
Growth in the world’s population and increasing consumption is expected to lead to a three-fold rise in energy demand during the next century, which is thought will lead to a 2–4º centigrade increase in average global temperature. Scientific consensus is that we need to reduce emissions by 80% in the next 50 years to stabilise our climate and prevent unprecedented negative impacts on the economy and our climate.
Against that backdrop, any and every means to tackle climate change has to be embraced. An offset-inclusive carbon reduction programme is an immediate and cost-effective way to meet stakeholder pressure by setting and meeting stretching carbon reduction targets, prepare for increasing regulation and mitigate future risks as carbon becomes and increasingly costly commodity.
Businesses choose to offset because they realise they are an integral part of any solution to climate change and they wish to prepare for a future where carbon is likely to be high cost and highly regulated.
In order for businesses to commit to and achieve significant emissions reductions, they need a robust carbon management plan which combines internal reductions with a carbon offset programme. There are many changes companies can make to internal processes, behaviour and facilities in order to reduce their carbon emissions but there will always be things they can’t change because it’s essential to their business or cost-prohibitive to alter. Carbon offsets enable them to take full responsibility for their carbon emissions immediately and cost effectively. Carbon offsets also provide a critical source of financing for renewable energy and other emissions-reducing projects.
By offsetting the emissions they can’t reduce through internal change, businesses reduce their impact on the climate and help to finance important projects which would not otherwise be viable. The atmosphere does not care where GHGs are emitted, nor does it care where it is prevented. What is essential from the point of view of climate change is reducing the total amount of emissions.
Climate change is the long-term change in average weather conditions, including temperature, precipitation and wind.
According to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which is comprised of the world’s leading scientific experts in the field of climate change, the global climate is undergoing dramatic changes as the direct result of greenhouse gas emissions from human activity. Climate change is already apparent as evidenced by higher temperatures, rising sea levels, increased ocean acidity and ice melt. Global surface temperatures, alone, have increased by roughly 0.74 °C (1.33 °F) between the start and the end of the 20th century. According to the IPCC these trends are set to continue to accelerate into the 21st century and will be accompanied by new changes such as increases in extreme weather events like hurricanes. In fact, according to the IPCC’s latest findings, global average temperatures will probably rise a further 1.1 to 6.4 ºC (2.0 to 11.5 ºF) this century, depending on the extent of continued greenhouse gas emissions.
Greenhouse gases are gases in the atmosphere that act like a blanket or glass roof around the earth, trapping in heat that would otherwise escape to space – this is commonly referred to as the “greenhouse effect”. From the end of the last Ice Age about 10,000 years ago to the end of the 18th century, the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere remained fairly constant and at a level sufficient to sustain life as we know it today. Since the Industrial Revolution 200 years ago, mankind has been releasing unprecedented amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, which trap more heat, amplifying the natural greenhouse effect.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most significant greenhouse gas released by human activities and is emitted mostly from the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas. Other greenhouse gases include methane and nitrous oxide.
As early as 1995, the IPCC had strong scientific evidence that climate change was occurring and that human activities were a primary cause. Since then, the IPCC has conducted four detailed assessments of climate change which on each occasion has reported greater confidence in the case for human-induced climate change. By 2007, the IPCC concluded that it is ‘‘extremely unlikely that the global climate changes of the past fifty years can be explained without invoking human activities’’. Prominent scientists and major scientific organisations have all ratified the IPCC conclusion. Today, all but a tiny handful of climate scientists are convinced that earth’s climate is heating up and that human activities are a significant cause.
The scientific consensus regarding climate change is based on the work of thousands of experts from hundreds of research institutions located across the globe. Scientists worldwide have considered all the possible natural factors that affect climate on Earth, from the output of the sun to the effects of volcanoes. After analysing the possible impacts on both warming and cooling of each of the factors, along with man-made factors, the IPCC concluded that most of the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures since the 1950s is very likely (more than 90% certainty) due to the observed increase in man-made greenhouse gas concentrations over the same period.
Without effective action to halt the rise and then reduce the levels of greenhouse gases released by human activity, countries worldwide and their citizens face a bleak future.
There will be increased disruption to society from extreme weather, with more frequent storms and flooding, more severe droughts and heat waves; rising sea levels and thawing permafrost will put essential infrastructure under pressure; in many regions agriculture will be adversely affected by water shortages and extreme heat; the effects on the natural world will also be severe with the loss of coral reefs as oceans warm and of tropical forests as fires become more frequent.
These impacts will be felt in economic terms and the pressure on already stressed world financial systems could be catastrophic. There will also be social consequences with mass human migrations from lands affected by drought and famine and extreme heat stress in the urban areas of topical and subtropical countries.
Some changes to our climate are inevitable given the historic build up of emissions in the atmosphere, but immediate action is needed to avert the worst of these impacts.
According to recent calculations by the IPCC, the level of action required is considerable. It is estimated that greenhouse gas emissions would need to be cut by at least 80% by 2050 in order to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Some countries, like the UK, have committed to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions in line with this target however most countries still have not. The more action is delayed the more the levels of greenhouse gases will rise before they are brought under control, committing the Earth to greater levels of warming and making the required reductions even greater.
Fortunately, many technological solutions exist for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. While these technologies come with a price, it is far outweighed by the cost of inaction. Financing these technologies, however, remains a challenge. New sources of finance, such as the carbon markets, are required to mobilise the necessary investment and financial flows to address climate change.
Carbon Consulting | Carbon Management | Carbon Footprint | Energy & Resource Management | Climate Change | OK Carbon Credits
Contact: Helpdesk@okcarbontrading.com | Site Terms and Trademarks | © 2011 OK CARBON - OK CARBON TRADING Inc : USA UK EUROPE CHINA INDIA ASIA