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Nature Conservancy Launches Innovative Voluntary Carbon Offsets Program

New, Rigorous Standards Included in Program; May Also Be Used As Model for Future Programs

ARLINGTON, VA — March 10, 2007 — Today, The Nature Conservancy announced a new, state-of-the-art carbon offsets program that allows people to voluntarily mitigate their carbon footprint.  The program meets the highest, most rigorous standards of any carbon offset program to date, and it may also serve as a pilot in some respects for future programs that could be enacted under federal law.

“This carbon offset program is based on the most up-to-date research and information,” noted Bill Stanley, who leads the science team on climate change for The Nature Conservancy.  “We have taken every possible step to ensure the integrity and transparency of this offset program, and we are making a commitment to people that when they volunteer to take part in our offset program, they are truly getting what they are paying for.”

Offset programs have become a popular way for people seeking to “offset” the carbon dioxide they are emitting in daily life, through transportation, heating and cooling their home, or other activities.  People looking to offset their emissions with the help of The Nature Conservancy can go to the carbon footprint calculator on www.nature.org to figure out how many tons of carbon dioxide they are currently emitting, and make a contribution in the form of an offset that mitigates their impact. 

Stanley cautioned, “Carbon offsets should not be seen as a solution to climate change or as a remedy for the daily behaviors that contribute to climate change.  But they can help mitigate the activities that you truly can’t curb, such as a necessary airplane trip.”  He added, “The best way to help reduce the risks of climate change is to reduce your own emissions, period.”

Offset programs involve the planting of trees, which capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.  By contributing to The Nature Conservancy’s offset program, for example, people are supporting on-the-ground conservation and reforestation as newly planted trees and other native species grow in the Lower Mississippi Valley, which was once forested but later cleared.  The carbon stored as a result of this project will be fully verified, measured, and accounted for by scientists over the next 70 years, and the area will be protected for future generations.

What’s different about The Nature Conservancy’s offset program

The Nature Conservancy’s offset program goes further than most because of the extensive measurement and monitoring of the carbon stored in its replanting projects.  Conservancy scientists are taking extra steps to ensure that the forests will remain intact now and into the future and that contributions will result in conservation work that otherwise would not have been done.

The Nature Conservancy has even taken the unprecedented step of setting aside a percentage of the carbon offsets as insurance.  In the event that some of the trees in the project do not survive, there is a buffer pool of carbon offsets to make up the difference, and an individual's contribution will still be valid.  Contributors will be provided with regular email updates on the project, which will be monitored consistently to ensure it is continuing to meet sequestration standards. 

The program meets the strongest criteria available to date -- standards set by Voluntary Carbon Standards (VCS), an independent group that provides the highest standards for the voluntary offset market.

How this program can serve as a model for other programs

In addition to the rigorous standards that this program establishes for a voluntary carbon market, Nature Conservancy scientists and policy experts are hoping it will be a point of departure for a possible compliance carbon market, to be enacted under federal law.  Later this year, Congress is expected to debate legislation under which businesses and other organizations would likely be “credited” for offsetting their carbon emissions. 

The Nature Conservancy is calling for federal lawmakers to adopt climate change policy that would allow for a cap and trade system, so that strict limits would be placed on emissions and entities would be allowed to trade carbon credits in an open market.   Such a program should address emissions from all sectors of the economy, including by crediting forest and land use activities that achieve real, permanent, and verifiable emissions reductions or carbon storage, with reliable measuring and monitoring and appropriate accounting for leakage.

To learn more about what can be done about climate change, go to The Nature Conservancy’s website.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.