Carbon Offsets - Sun News Service report Buying Your Way Out of Impact

Carbon offset programs seem to be the new rage -- but are they ethically correct?
By VIVIAN SUNG, SUN MEDIA
February 26, 2007

Forgive us Mother Earth for we have sinned.

It's been five years and 758 megatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions since our last confession -- the amount of pollutants Canada has pumped into the atmosphere despite having ratified the Kyoto agreement in 2002.

How many Hail Mary's and carbon offsets must we commit to absolve ourselves of our sins?

By now, the allegory of the carbon offset and the papal indulgence has become as commonplace as the parable of the prodigal son among environmentalists -- only in this case, it's Mother Nature who stands with outstretched arms, welcoming back her rebellious child.

How it works

Here's how it works: Carbon offset programs work to neutralize carbon emissions produced by driving, flying or home energy consumption. On average, each Canadian produces more than five tonnes of carbon emissions a year -- enough to fill five Olympic-size swimming pools.

After calculating the amount of carbon produced from driving, for example, consumers can mitigate the damage done by paying into an offset program that invests the money into energy efficiency and green projects, mostly in developing countries.

Though well-intentioned, critics have likened the scheme to the 16th-century practice of papal indulgences, where Catholics were able to buy their way out of sinning.

Similarly, skeptics caution carbon offsets give polluters an easy way out -- $20 buys absolution of another kind, mollifying guilty consciences.

"Purchasing offsets can be seen as an easy way out for governments, businesses and individuals to continue polluting without making changes to the way they do business or their behaviour," warn Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and the World Wide Fund for Nature-U.K., in a joint statement. "In particular, there are strong concerns over the environmental credibility of the credits and the contribution of the projects to sustainable development."

Carbon offset schemes are not a new concept, having been around for more than a decade. But it's gained momentum in Canada only recently, with about a dozen offset companies in the country, many of which popped up within the last two years.

But if the fevered pitch of environmentalism continues along the current trajectory, chances are green initiatives like offset programs will grow.

At Offsetters.ca, a Vancouver-based, non-profit provider, business has been brisk.

In the last four months alone, co-founder James Tansey said sales have quadrupled.

When Offsetters.ca partnered with the airline WestJet in October of last year, they sold $120,000 in tickets for the airline translating into $2,400 or roughly 160 tonnes of offsets -- the equivalent of the annual output of 32 Canadians.

If they continue at the rate of the last three to four months, Offsetters.ca expects to grow by up to 10 times and offset $2 million in air travel this year, Tansey said.

When consumers purchase WestJet flights via their website, a 2% commission of the ticket cost is reinvested in carbon offsets, Tansey explains.

Caveats

Environmental groups, meanwhile, agreed carbon offsets can be a part of the solution but all cautioned their endorsements come with caveats.

"The first priority is to reduce our own emissions," said Matthew Bramley of the Pembina Institute, based in Calgary. "But once you've done all you can to reduce emissions, we believe offsets enable you to go further. If you go all the way to carbon neutral, you're taking responsibility for 100% of emissions which is never possible to achieve purely through reductions."

Some carbon-intensive activities like driving for example, are unavoidable especially for rural and northern communities.

"The most important thing is that the consumer is becoming aware of their consumption of energy and the result of their emissions," said Bryce Conacher, CEO of Reknewco and Cleanairpass, launched in December 2005.

The first step to offsetting involves calculating your own emissions, Conacher said, which in itself acts as a wakeup call for the average Canadian, unaware of their own carbon footprint.

Ron Dembo, CEO of Zerofootprint in Toronto, describes the interest in offsetting as more than just a trend, but a watershed moment for Canadians.

"The first thing you're doing is making an enormous cultural leap. You now actually believe that the environment costs money," Dembo said. "By paying for that offset, you've made a massive cultural leap ... getting people to understand that the environment's not free."

Added Dale Marshall of the David Suzuki Foundation: "People looking into this are generally concerned and looking at their daily activities. It's an important criticism but not as big as some say."

In the U.K., bogus carbon schemes have caused so much concern the government moved last month to set standards and bring greater clarity to an exponentially growing industry.

Need authority

"Clearly there's a role for the federal government to establish an agency or some sort of authority...where Canadians can be assured that if they're buying carbon offsets, the money is actually taking carbon out of the air," said Stephen Hazell of the Sierra Club of Canada.

Though environmental groups often cite the Gold Standard -- used under Kyoto's Clean Development Mechanism -- as the highest bar to measure offsets, few are registered and are expensive for smaller projects. Voluntary offsets also come with a confusing assortment of standard guarantees: EcoLogo in Canada, Green-e in the U.S., and the International Organization for Standardization.

When purchasing an offset, experts advise the most important aspect to consider is additionality -- that is, the project wouldn't have happened without the extra funding from the sale of offsets.

"The whole purpose of offsets is to shift people away to a carbon neutral future," said Howie Chong of Toronto-based CarbonZero, launched last September. "If we can convince Canadians and the government to do this on their own, if we can make drastic changes so we're no longer carbon dependent, we'll shut down. It's that simple."

The above article also appears in the following news publications:

Buying your way out; Carbon offset programs seem to be the new rage -- but are they ethically correct?
Forgive us Mother Earth for we have sinned. It's been five years and 758 megatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions since our last confession -- the amount of pollutants Canada has pumped into the...
Byline: BY VIVIAN SUNG
Edition: Final
The London Free Press
Mon, Feb 26, 2007

Buying your way out; Carbon offset programs seem to be the new rage -- but are they ethically correct?
Forgive us Mother Earth for we have sinned. It's been five years and 758 megatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions since our last confession -- the amount of pollutants Canada has pumped into the...
Byline: BY VIVIAN SUNG
Edition: Final
The Toronto Sun
Mon, Feb 26, 2007

Buying your way out; Carbon offset programs seem to be the new rage -- but are they ethically correct?
Forgive us Mother Earth for we have sinned. It's been five years and 758 megatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions since our last confession -- the amount of pollutants Canada has pumped into the...
Byline: BY VIVIAN SUNG
Edition: Final
The Winnipeg Sun
Mon, Feb 26, 2007

Buying your way out; Carbon offset programs seem to be the new rage -- but are they ethically correct?
Forgive us Mother Earth for we have sinned. It's been five years and 758 megatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions since our last confession -- the amount of pollutants Canada has pumped into the...
Byline: BY VIVIAN SONG
Edition: Final
The Ottawa Sun
Mon, Feb 26, 2007

http://www.tourismclicks.com

Consumers Prefer Green

Fully two-thirds of consumers are likely to

switch their spending to companies that have demonstrated a commitment to

green policies, further illustrating how important the environment is to

Canadian consumers, according to a survey released today by Bullfrog

Power(TM), Ontario's first 100 per cent green electricity retailer.

The poll, by Environics Research Group, is the first snapshot to capture

how Canadians view companies not just on the basis of the goods or services

they provide, but the way they do business, specifically when it comes to how

they care for the environment. And it proved what many suspected is true:

Canadian consumers are more attracted to companies that have clearly shown a

commitment to a cleaner, greener environment.

In the survey of more than 1,000 Canadians conducted Feb. 7-14, 67 per

cent said they are likely to switch to banks, stores and other retail or

service outlets that have demonstrated their commitment to the environment. In

British Columbia and Alberta, consumers are most likely to make the switch,

with 7 in 10 responding that they would move their business, followed by

Ontario at 68 per cent and Quebec at 64 per cent.

In addition, 75 per cent of Canadians surveyed said they are likely to

change their own shopping habits to purchase more environmentally friendly

goods and services, even if it means paying a premium price. Regionally,

British Columbians were the most likely to change, at 83 per cent, followed by

Ontarians at 78 per cent and Albertans at 75 per cent.

"We're seeing a fundamental shift in consumer behavior that reflects the

increased mainstreaming of environmental consciousness," said Michael Adams,

founding president of the Environics group of research and communications

consulting companies. "Canadians are exercising their consumer power by

actively and very deliberately rewarding those companies who are taking action

on the environment."

The national poll also found women consumers (80 per cent) were more

likely than men (69 per cent) to change their shopping habits in favour of

environmentally friendly goods and services. However, consumer interest in

green companies, including banks, malls and retail stores did not vary between

different income levels.

"Canadian consumers are demonstrating their environmental awareness,

leadership and action," said Tom Heintzman, President, Bullfrog Power. "During

this period of heightened awareness about environmental issues, consumers are

clearly looking for green products and also looking to support businesses that

have demonstrated environmental stewardship."

Bullfrog Power is the only electricity retailer in Ontario that buys

power exclusively from pollution-free wind and low-impact hydro generators who

meet or exceed the federal government's Environmental Choice(M) Program

EcoLogo(M) standard for renewable electricity.

Bullfrog Power provides homes, businesses and non-profit organizations

with a convenient, easy way to go green. A number of Ontario businesses have

already demonstrated environmental leadership by signing up for Bullfrog

Power, including RBC Financial Group, Wal-Mart, Ivanhoe Cambridge, Cadbury

Adams, and Credit Union Central of Ontario. Residential customers and members

of the Bullfrog Founders Club include Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip, Mark

Cullen, Jamie Kennedy, David Crombie, Thomas Homer-Dixon, Graham Gibson and

Margaret Atwood.

The Environics Research Group national survey was conducted among 1,013

Canadians and is considered accurate within plus or minus 3.1 percentage

points, 19 times in 20. Survey data is weighted to replicate actual population

distribution by age and sex according to most recent 2001 Census data.

The complete survey results are available online at

http://www.bullfrogpower.com/news/Survey_Data.pdf

About Bullfrog Power

Bullfrog Power(TM) is a 100 per cent green electricity retailer in

Ontario that sources electricity exclusively from wind and low-impact water

power producers who meet or exceed the federal government's EcoLogo(M)

standard for renewable energy. Bullfrogpowered(TM) customers ensure that their

electricity dollars support clean, renewable energy producers who are

displacing polluting and CO2-emitting electricity production on the Ontario

grid. Bullfrog Power has pledged 10 per cent of company profits to

organizations that promote sustainability. Visit Bullfrog Power on the web at

www.bullfrogpower.com.

Contact Us

Michael Adams, founder of Environics Research Group, and Tom Heintzman,

President of Bullfrog Power, are both available for interviews.

For further information: Bill Walker, Senior Vice President, Veritas

Communications, Tel: (416) 482-2248, Mobile: (416) 558-8766, Email:

walker@veritascanada.com

ONLINE BOOKINGS continue to grow - over 70% of Web Users Book ONLINE.

2/3 of Web users who plan to travel in the next three months will do their travel research and buy tickets or book hotels online, according to a new study by Burst Media. Burst surveyed around 2,100 adult Web users who were planning to travel in the next three months. Almost half (47.2%) said the Internet will be their primary travel resource, while two-thirds (66.9%) said they would research and make a travel-related transaction online.

72.9% said they would make hotel reservations. Consumers who used the Internet to research and make travel arrangements skewed toward higher incomes. Sixty-three percent of respondents who reported household incomes of over $100,000 said the Internet would be their primary travel resource, and 51.8% of those reporting household incomes of between $75,000 and $99,000 said the Web would be their primary resource. Respondents most valued the ability to check the availability and rates of hotels, flights and rental cars on a travel site. Fifty-five percent of users said that feature would convince them to return to a travel site, 49.9% wanted destination information, and 49.7% were looking for promotions and special deals.

Also, respondents who will make transactions online will also conduct travel research online – almost 60% will research travel destinations, and almost one-third will research travel/tour operators.

Todd Lucier - TourismClicks.com

Blogs Get Attention

Travel Blog inspires media attention and government action.

THE CHANGING PROFILE OF TOURISTS

More and more people are 'cash-rich' and 'time-poor' today, according to the World Travel Trends Report 2006/07. They have less time to travel for leisure purposes, but they want to ensure their trips create a memorable experience - one they can savour for a long time, although the majority of travellers are "still constantly on the look-out for price deals".

Today's leisure travellers, who comprise more singles, more female travellers, more grandparents travelling with their grandchildren, and more large family units (several generations), are much less concerned about which destination they visit, which means they tend to be less loyal to destinations than they ever were in the past. The increased desire for healthy living and the need to escape highly pressured working environments have stimulated the demand for niche products such as spa/wellness tourism, outdoor activities, cruises and educational trips.

The need to be more 'green', authenticity, interaction with local people and a more emotional and cultural link to the people and communities they visit rank as increasingly important. Consumers now want more control in organizing their trips, especially when travelling for leisure, and technology has provided them with the means to assume this control and customize their own travel plans. This trend is even apparent in China, where young, educated Chinese demand more flexibility instead of ready-made, organized package holidays.

More detailed analysis of the key issues and trends identified by the Pisa Forum participants is available in the ITB/IPK World Travel Trends report, which can be downloaded from the ITB website.

This article comes from Hotel News Resource www.hotelnewsresource.com; visit www.hotelnewsresource.com/article25986.html