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Draft U.S. Low-Carbon Cement Protocol available for public review and comment. Join us for a public comment webinar on Friday, August 25.
Draft Dominican Republic Livestock Protocol available for public review & comment. Join us for a public comment webinar on Sep 1..
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.