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Listen to C. José Miguel Hernández García, President of the Ejido Los Bancos, share how the ejido’s improved forest management offset project in Duango has benefited their community
Updated Program Manual & Terms of Use Available
Errata & clarifications issued for U.S. Livestock, Mexico Livestock, and Mexico Landfill Protocols
U.S. Forest Protocol Version 5.1 now available for use – reincorporates reforestation as a project type & includes program revisions that are editorial or technical in nature
Climate Action Offsetter: Colgate University educates and engages on climate and sustainability
Q&A with Colgate University, who recently retired offsets from the Reserve offset registry
1. What is your organization’s mission?
Colgate University is a private liberal arts college that was founded in 1819. Colgate’s mission is to provide a demanding, expansive, educational experience to a select group of diverse, talented, intellectually sophisticated students who are capable of challenging themselves, their peers, and their teachers in a setting that brings together living and learning. The purpose of the university is to develop wise, thoughtful, critical thinkers and perceptive leaders by challenging young men and women to fulfill their potential through residence in a community that values intellectual rigor and respects the complexity of human understanding.
2. What are the key principles and goals of your sustainability program?
Colgate committed to carbon neutrality in 2008 and in April 2019 Colgate became the first institution of higher education in the State of New York to achieve carbon neutrality. Since its baseline carbon inventory in 2009, Colgate has reduced its campus carbon footprint by over 50 percent through on-campus projects and initiatives. Significant sources of emissions such as air travel, commuting, ground transportation, and some forms of energy use are currently impossible to eliminate without extraordinary cost or disruption to our academic mission. To achieve carbon neutrality, the University balanced its remaining on-campus carbon emissions by investing in off-campus carbon reduction projects (carbon offsets) so that its net carbon footprint is zero.
In addition to carbon neutrality, Colgate’s sustainability program features food and dining options that are sustainably and locally sourced; green building commitment with several buildings on campus that are LEED certified 
and all new construction and major renovations required to achieve a minimum rating of LEED Silver; land and forest stewardship of Colgate’s 1,059 acres of forests that contain 210,058 tons of stored carbon and sequester an additional 3,884 tons of carbon annually; recycling and waste minimization, including decreasing paper usage, changing purchasing habits, determining alternatives to single-use items, and holding clothing swaps and donation drives; Green Revolving Loan Fund to support campus initiatives that measurably reduce the university’s carbon footprint and general ecological impact, such as lightbulb replacement; Sustainability Council that serves as an advisory committee to the University president about all aspects of sustainability on campus; and sustainable transportation options including campus bike rentals, free shuttle service, and electric vehicle charging stations.
3. How did you choose the right offset projects for your company?
The carbon offset project decisions are determined by student, staff, and faculty representatives after receiving feedback from groups and individuals on campus about the most important carbon offset factors to the Colgate community. The committee strives to balance the values most important to the community with the quality of the projects and the overall costs of investing in such initiatives.
Deciding on which carbon offsets to invest in involves an open and transparent process that involves extensive research along with opportunities for community feedback – including:
- researching the approaches from other leading institutions who have already achieved carbon neutrality and/or are already investing in carbon offsets;
- assessing the knowledge and opinions of students on the issue of carbon offsets at Colgate from students in Professor Ian Helfant’s Environmental Studies 390 course (spring 2018);
- an interactive brown bag discussion seminar for faculty and staff (spring 2018);
- a sensitivity analysis that evaluated the potential of the Colgate forest as a carbon offset project (summer 2018);
- researching institutional carbon offset decision-making processes at Colgate University and peer institutions conducted by students in Professor Andy Pattison’s Environmental Studies 390 course (fall 2018);
- a student led forum on the topic of carbon offsets (fall 2018);
- a presentation on carbon neutrality and carbon offsets at an all-faculty meeting (fall 2018);
- a campus-wide open forum on carbon neutrality and carbon offsets (fall 2018);
- an all-campus survey (fall 2018);
- two solicitations for bids from international, national, and New York State based carbon offset projects;
- a couple of interim reports that highlighted options and a summary of initial feedback;
- a couple dozen meetings of the Carbon Offsets Working Group to discuss their research, feedback from the community, and sharing of diverse perspectives.
General feedback from focus groups included:
- General agreement that buying domestic (U.S.) offsets is preferred over foreign offsets and local (NYS, Madison County, or Hamilton) is supported if the price is fair.
- Participants agreed that selecting a portfolio of project types is a good approach. Having a portfolio of projects also allows offsets to be evaluated, discussed, and critiqued by students and faculty which helps contribute to our knowledge and understanding of carbon offset markets.
- Some participants expressed concern for ensuring long-term permanence in forestry-based projects and thought that avoided deforestation could be problematic due to imposing values on other places/communities. Several participants expressed support for easily measurable offsets (e.g., methane destruction or recovery).
- General agreement that choosing local projects for their educational value alone is the least important criterion (e.g., learning can be achieved remotely and learning about projects does not necessarily involve site visits). However, one faculty member felt that educational value and supporting regional projects is the most important criteria.
Our offset retirements from the Reserve include the following:
| Supplier | Project Name | Methodology | Country | Vintage | Standard | SDGs Met | Offsets Purchased (tons) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ClimeCo | Ascend Performance Materials Operations LLC Adipic Acid N2O Abatement | N2O Abatement | Florida, USA | 2021-22 | CAR | 7 | 1,600 |
| NativeEnergy | May Ranch Avoided Conversion Project | Grasslands Preservation | Colorado, USA | 2017 and 2018 | CAR | 5 | 1,000 |
4. How has utilizing offsets benefited your organization / your clients / your community?
Purchasing offsets has allowed the Colgate community to achieve carbon neutrality and support GHG reductions that provide SDGs and ecosystem benefits in the greater NY, US, and global community. Investing in offsets creates an opportunity for education and innovation. The process by which our university selects offset projects provides important learning and engagement opportunities for students, who learn about calculating carbon footprints, building robust carbon reduction strategies, developing thoughtful and responsible portfolios of emissions reduction projects, and the importance of engaging and listening to the input of the entire campus. Our students gain additional knowledge about the climate crisis, learn about local and important climate projects happening here and beyond, and can take the experience participating in achieving carbon neutrality to their next ventures.
Offsets also create a financial incentive to reduce on-campus emissions that would obviate the need to purchase future offsets on an annual and ongoing basis. While implementing on-campus projects that continue to reduce Colgate’s greenhouse gas emissions remains the top priority, the University must also choose among a myriad of carbon offsets options to maintain its carbon neutral status achieved in 2019.
5. What’s next for your organization’s climate and environmental goals?
Colgate is super proud to have achieved carbon neutrality in 2019 and to have reduced its campus carbon footprint by over 60% from the 2009 baseline. Colgate continues to accept responsibility for its contribution to global climate change and is committed to finding further opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on campus and supporting further reductions of greenhouse gas emissions around the globe. We will continue to innovate and create sustainability initiatives on campus; invest in high-quality carbon offset projects that eliminate remaining emissions from Colgate’s operations; and educate and engage with our students to ensure they have the knowledge, tools, and resources to go forth and weave climate leadership into their chosen endeavors.
Errata and clarifications released for U.S. Grassland Protocol V2.1
Climate Action Offsetter: SRO Motorsports races toward their climate goals
Q&A with SRO Motorsports Group, who recently retired offsets from the Reserve offset registry
1. What is your organization’s mission?
With three decades’ experience in organization and promotion of motorsport races around the world, SRO Motorsports Group is the established global leader in GT racing. We stage multiple series across five continents, each with a unique identity, providing an opportunity to GT teams to compete for diverse categories titles. One of our flagship events sees world-leading automotive brands tackle marquee events across the globe.
The company is inextricably linked with the revival of GT Racing, but has also been involved in single-seater, sportscar and touring car competitions as well as in the promotion of multi-series platforms and esports competitions.
Considerable emphasis is placed on amateur competitors thanks to a range of series combining a relaxed environment with highly professional standards, and SRO also works with the FIA to organise and promote the FIA Motorsport Games, a multi-disciplinary event in which drivers compete in the colors of their national flag.
Our events portfolio is constantly expanding, we are on a mission to build a sustainable future for our sport, through teamwork, innovation and a rebellious competitive spirit.
2. What are the key principles and goals of your sustainability program?
SRO’s sustainability strategy has our business at the core of it. From renewable energy procurement at our facilities, to reducing, recycling waste and obtaining environmental certifications, we are truly focused on bringing environmental protection as a crucial focus to our day-to-day work.
The topics of diversity and inclusion, as well as our employees’ health and wellbeing are equally high on our list of priorities. We’ll continue to work on and implement inclusive working and hiring practices, as well as establish well-being and health and safety policies, aiding us in shaping a diverse and empowered workforce. This will help SRO become a stronger, more resilient business and a better place to work.
Our championships are where our strategy house further develops, establishing three main pillars: events, teams and partners, and elaborating environmental actions within.
Regarding the events pillar, this is the second year in which single-use plastic is banned on all our events, and we cooperate with suppliers which offer sustainable products (catering, merchandise, branding materials etc). We have recently mandated compulsory use of 100% HVO (bio) fuel for team generators and tyre warmers at our biggest European Series events and the goal is to implement this rule worldwide in the upcoming years.
The teams participating in all of SRO Series around the world, are with no doubt our biggest driving force. Being one of the main pillars in our sustainability strategy, we’ve pledged to empower our teams to go carbon neutral and champion diverse talent.
At the end of this racing season we’ll provide our teams with best practice guidance on decarbonization and a GHG assessment calculator to allow them to work out their emissions and how to cut them. For two years in a row now we’ve compensated our competitors carbon emissions by supporting international environmental projects, having in that way 100% carbon neutral competitor fleets.
The third main pillar of our strategy focuses on creating innovative partnerships for zero carbon fuels and sustainable tyres.
Adopting sustainable race fuels is a top priority, and we plan to partner with innovators in fuels to give us all the power we need, with 60% lower CO2 emissions by 2024, and zero CO2 by 2030.
Sustainable tyre design and use is the second aim of our partner pillar. As of this year we have implemented 100 percent tyre collection and recovery processes of used tyres on our events. Our tyre partnership work will additionally focus on implementation of tyre circularity programme to maximise used tyres upcycling as of 2024 and continuous demand for more sustainable design creating tyres that last longer.
3. How did you choose the right offset projects for your company?
Each of the offset projects we invest in are carefully selected and verified by relevant environmental certification standards. They support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and are subject to regular third-party audits. To encourage carbon emissions removal and carbon avoidance, a balance of technology-based and nature-based initiatives is reflected in our offsetting portfolio. We also try to choose projects which are relevant to our racing activities, meaning supporting projects local to some of the regions we race in. By supporting these initiatives, we are establishing a global environmental presence that matches our activities in motor racing.
4. How has utilizing offsets benefited your organization / your clients / your community?
SRO Motorsports Group is committed to manage our business processes while taking account of our environmental, social and economic impact. Our constant priority is to act in a responsible and ethical manner, always striving to bring positive contribution to society.
A crucial part of our wider CSR commitment is our Environmental responsibility – being highly aware of the environmental footprint our operations create, we have created a 2023 sustainability program and constantly implement sustainable actions into each aspect of our business activities.
As part of our sustainability program, SRO has started to offset its residual carbon emissions, difficult to be avoided at present. These offsetting programs contribute towards preserving biological diversity and protecting endangered ecosystems, successfully combating climate change. The environmental projects we support bring numerous benefits for us, our community and the society as a whole by helping reduce millions tonnes of CO2e, restoring eco-systems, supporting traditional livelihoods and offering locals a more sustainable source of income.
5. What’s next for your organization’s climate and environmental goals?
SRO Motorsports Group has recently joined The Climate Pledge, an initiative co-founded by Amazon and Global Optimism, which is a commitment to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.
This ambitious target is 10 years ahead of the objective set by the Paris Agreement, a landmark treaty adopted at the COP 21 UN Climate Change Conference in 2015. Meeting the goal will further enhance the world’s chances of limiting the global temperature rise and in turn fighting back against the climate emergency.
By joining, SRO has committed to three main areas of action: measuring and reporting its greenhouse gas emissions on a regular basis; implementing decarbonisation strategies in line with the Paris Agreement; and acting to neutralize any remaining emissions with additional, quantifiable, real, permanent, and socially beneficial offsets to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2040. Crucially, the initiative acknowledges that the world must move faster in its effort to build a low-carbon future.
In addition, we have set several environmental goals and actions for 2024: implementing 100% HVO racing fuel on our events, sustainable racing calendars, obtaining environmental certifications for our Series and facilities, holding environmental workshops for our competitors, awarding competitor Sustainability trophies and we also aim to recalculate our carbon footprint baseline.
Local Impact and Inclusion with Mexico Forest Offset Projects
On international, national, and local levels, social safeguards have become a focal point of discussion and debate for forest offset projects and appropriately so. Without a check for protection of social safeguards, there would be no assurances that offset projects are not causing more harm than good to the environment, livelihood, and equity of local communities.
Social safeguards are a priority and requirement in the Climate Action Reserve’s Mexico Forest Protocol (MFP), ensuring that local communities and ejidos are involved in their forest offset projects’ design and implementation. The MFP was developed to be standardized to the Mexican context to reduce project development and verification costs and ensure that the primary beneficiaries would be Mexican ejidos and communities, the primary forest owners in Mexico.
An excellent example of ejido involvement and implementation of the social safeguards can be seen in the Pueblo Nuevo forest project. Earlier this year, Climate Action Reserve staff members attended the General Assembly of Pueblo Nuevo in Durango, Mexico. Pueblo Nuevo is the second largest ejido in Mexico with more than 240,000 hectares of land and a total population of over 10,000. After the Ejido President, accompanied by the project developer, provided an overview of the forest carbon project and protocol requirements, they opened the floor for discussion and community participation. Hands were raised and a line of community members was formed, each looking to voice their support of the project, its importance for their community and for Mexico, and the need to ensure the sustainable management of their forest for the next generation. After community members voiced their comments, the Ejido President held a vote for the community to commit to the long-term requirements of the forest carbon project. Through this democratic and participatory process, the ejido committed to include 104,000 hectares in an Improved Forest Management project and ensure all additional carbon removals be maintained for a minimum of 100 years.
The vote to approve the community’s commitment to the forest carbon project is part of the social safeguards included in the Reserve’s MFP. The social safeguards ensure Free, Prior, and Informed Consent, requiring that the ejido is adequately informed on topics related to the forest carbon project, including estimated costs and benefits, protocol requirements, and decision-making processes for long-term management of generated funds, prior to voting to approve the project. The communities further must approve the project developer and all related contracts defining the division of costs and benefits.
The social safeguards additionally require ongoing notification, participation, and documentation of the forest carbon project to ensure the community is included and informed of all project development activities, as well as the sale of credits, associated prices and potential offers. Lastly, the social safeguards require local governance of the carbon project through the election of a community member to serve as the project coordinator or the primary representative of the community throughout the project development and ongoing measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) activities. The project developer must include the coordinator in all communications with the Reserve, verification bodies, and potential buyers, ensuring transparency of all associated project activities with the community.
Protection and involvement of local communities does not stop with the social safeguards required in the Reserve’s MFP. Additionally, the Reserve holds weekly calls with all Mexico forest project developers and coordinators to respond to project or protocol related questions, provides ongoing training opportunities, and provides a space for project developers and coordinators to share their project experience and knowledge. The Reserve has further held over 25 in-person and remote trainings to Mexican NGOs, foresters and forest service providers, communities and ejidos, and other local actors that have in turn become project developers, project owners, and verifiers.
To date, 91 percent of all projects in Mexico are communally owned projects, 100 percent of all project developers with listed or registered projects are Mexican based organizations and companies1, and 58 percent of all projects have been verified by a Mexican based2 verification body (99 percent with Mexican based verifiers3). Through the Reserve’s model, the MFP has enabled the listing and/or registering of 198 projects, each of which have committed to the implementation of additional sequestration activities on over 1.7 million hectares throughout Mexico.
As demonstrated by the Pueblo Nuevo community and other local Mexican communities engaged in forest offset projects through the Reserve, social safeguards can and are being implemented in these projects and bringing protections and benefits to the communities.
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1Based on the listed Company Country for the Project Developer accounts.
2Based on submitted NOVA/COIs and the listed Company Country for the Verification Body accounts.
3Based on submitted NOVA/COIs and the listed Lead Verifier and/or Senior Internal Reviewer.
Impactos Locales e Inclusión de los Proyectos de Créditos de Compensación en México
A nivel internacional, nacional, y local, las salvaguardas sociales se han vuelto el punto focal de discusión y debate sobre proyectos forestales de compensación, y con justa razón. Sin un control de la protección de las salvaguardias sociales, no habría garantías de que los proyectos de compensación no causen más daños que beneficios al medio ambiente, los medios de subsistencia y la equidad de las comunidades locales.
El cumplimiento de las salvaguardas sociales es un requerimiento prioritario del Protocolo Forestal para México (PFM) de la Reserva de Acción Climática, el cual garantiza que las comunidades y ejidos locales participen en el diseño y la ejecución de sus proyectos de compensación forestal. El PFM fue desarrollado para adecuarse al contexto mexicano con el fin de reducir los costos de desarrollo y verificación de los proyectos para asegurar que los principales beneficiarios fueran los ejidos y comunidades, principales propietarios de los bosques en México. Un excelente ejemplo de participación de los ejidos y de aplicación de las salvaguardas sociales puede verse en el proyecto forestal de Pueblo Nuevo.
A principios de este año, miembros del personal de la Reserva de Acción Climática asistieron a la Asamblea General del Ejido Pueblo Nuevo en Durango, México. Pueblo Nuevo es el segundo ejido más grande de México, con más de 240,000 hectáreas de superficie y una población total de más de 10,000 habitantes. Después de que el presidente del ejido, acompañado por el desarrollador del proyecto, ofreciera una visión general del proyecto de carbono forestal y los requisitos del protocolo, abrieron el debate y la participación de la comunidad. Se levantaron las manos y se formó una fila de miembros de la comunidad, cada uno de los cuales quería expresar su apoyo al proyecto, su importancia para su comunidad y para México, y la necesidad de garantizar el manejo sostenible de su bosque para la próxima generación. Después de que los miembros de la comunidad expresaran sus comentarios, el Presidente del Comisariado Ejidal convocó a una votación para que la comunidad se comprometiera con los requisitos a largo plazo del proyecto de carbono forestal. A través de este proceso democrático y participativo, el ejido se comprometió a incluir 104,000 hectáreas en un proyecto de Manejo Forestal Mejorado, así como a garantizar que todas las remociones adicionales de carbono se mantengan durante un mínimo de 100 años.
La votación para aprobar el compromiso de la comunidad con el proyecto de carbono forestal forma parte de las salvaguardas sociales incluidas en el PFM de la Reserva. Las salvaguardas sociales garantizan el Consentimiento Libre, Previo e Informado, exigiendo que el ejido esté adecuadamente informado sobre los temas relacionados con el proyecto de carbono forestal, incluidos los costos y beneficios esperados, los requisitos del protocolo y los procesos de toma de decisiones para la gestión a largo plazo de los fondos generados, antes de votar para aprobar el proyecto. Además, las comunidades deben aprobar al promotor del proyecto y todos los contratos relacionados que definan el reparto de costes y beneficios.
Adicionalmente, las salvaguardias sociales exigen la notificación, participación y documentación continuas del proyecto de carbono forestal para garantizar que la comunidad esté incluida e informada de todas las actividades de desarrollo del proyecto, así como de la venta de créditos, los precios asociados y las posibles ofertas. Por último, las salvaguardas sociales exigen la gobernanza local del proyecto de carbono mediante la elección de un miembro de la comunidad que actúe como coordinador del proyecto o representante principal de la comunidad durante todo el desarrollo del proyecto y las actividades en curso de monitore, reporte y verificación (MRV). El desarrollador del proyecto debe incluir al coordinador en todas las comunicaciones con la Reserva, los organismos de verificación y los compradores potenciales, garantizando la transparencia de todas las actividades asociadas al proyecto con la comunidad.
La protección y la participación de las comunidades locales no se limitan a las salvaguardas sociales exigidas en el PFM. Además, la Reserva mantiene llamadas semanales con todos los desarrolladores y coordinadores de proyectos forestales de México para responder a preguntas relacionadas con proyectos o protocolos, ofrece oportunidades de formación continua y proporciona un espacio para que los desarrolladores y coordinadores de proyectos compartan su experiencia y conocimientos sobre los proyectos. Además, la Reserva ha impartido más de 25 cursos de formación presenciales y a distancia a ONG mexicanas, silvicultores y proveedores de servicios forestales, comunidades y ejidos, y otros actores locales que, a su vez, se han convertido en promotores de proyectos, propietarios de proyectos y verificadores.
Hasta la fecha, el 91 por ciento de todos los proyectos en México son de propiedad comunal, el 100 por ciento de todos los desarrolladores de proyectos con proyectos listados o registrados son organizaciones y empresas1 con sede en México, y el 58 por ciento de todos los proyectos han sido verificados por un organismo de verificación con sede en México2 (99 por ciento con verificadores3 con sede en México). A través del modelo de la Reserva, el PFM ha permitido el listado y/o registro de 198 proyectos, cada uno de los cuales se ha comprometido a la implementación de actividades adicionales de secuestro en más de 1.7 millones de hectáreas en todo México.
Como ha demostrado el ejido Pueblo Nuevo y otras comunidades mexicanas que participan en proyectos de créditos de compensación forestales a través de la Reserva, las salvaguardas sociales pueden aplicarse y se están aplicando en estos proyectos y aportando protecciones y beneficios a los núcleos agrarios.
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1 Basado en el país reportado como sede de la empresa para la apertura de cuentas del desarrollador de proyecto.
2 Según las NOVA/COI presentadas y el país reportado como sede de la empresa para la apertura de cuentas del Organismo de Verificación.
3 Basado en las NOVA/COI presentadas y en el Verificador Líder y/o el Revisor Interno Senior registrados.