How to buy carbon credits in Australia
Buying carbon credits to offset your carbon footprint
How do carbon credits work in Australia?
How does buying carbon offsets work when you use a company to provide credits that fund emissions reduction projects?
One carbon credit represents one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent. Companies that sell carbon offsets price their credits independently according to factors such as the current market price and the projects that the carbon credits will be invested in.
How to buy carbon offsets
Purchasing carbon credits in Australia is not a simple process. If your organisation does not have an account with the Clean Energy Regulator you will not be able to purchase any Australian Carbon Credit Units. In this case, you will need to have a Carbon retailer offset your carbon footprint on your behalf.
If your organisation does hold an account with the Clean Energy Regulator, you will need to deal directly with Project Aggregators or Project Developers to purchase your carbon credits. Alternatively, you can have a carbon retailer organise the offsetting of your carbon footprint on your behalf for a fee.
Carbonhalo can help you reach a low carbon baseline by guiding your organisation on an emissions reduction journey helping you measure, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, offset any remaining emissions, and share and celebrate your achievements simply follow:
- Step 1: Calculate your carbon footprint
- Step 2: Identify key areas where you can minimise your impact
- Step 3: Purchase carbon credits
- Step 4: Share your journey with customers and other
- Step 5: Monitor and share your successes and where you need to improve
Through these simple steps, you can help support the overall reduction of emissions across not only Australia but globally.
Purchase carbon offsets for a positive impact on the globe
Why choose to buy carbon credits?
If your business pursues carbon neutrality, however, it should seek to use carbon offsets sparingly and only consider them at the tail end of a business’s reduction strategy, remembering that purchasing carbon offsets is a business expense, whereas reducing emissions can be a cost saving.
Carbon credits are a way for individuals and businesses to contribute to specific projects with the sole aim of positive climate change. When it is done properly it enables businesses and their customers to acknowledge and then demonstrate their responsibility for the climate impact they have in doing business.
Ensuring the assistance they seek in using offsets to balance unavoidable emissions meets specific criteria and the process that retailer uses in selecting projects that also contribute local communities with co-benefits offering employment, improved health, biodiversity, women’s rights, land rights, and wider social benefits.
Technology today means that the complex work in calculating your carbon footprint has been done for you, so it’s only a matter of selecting a few variables from dropdown menus and away you go, look to reduce where you can then select a plan to offset what remains.
When you choose to buy carbon credits, it must form part of your combined reduction strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and have a positive impact on climate change. By funding carbon offset projects aimed at emissions reduction you:
- Support a healthier environment
- Support healthier biodiversity
- Support climate awareness
Internationally recognised climate action
Verra VCS is a verified carbon standard for certified projects to convert their greenhouse gas emissions reductions into tradable carbon credits.
REDD+ is a program that focuses on reforestation efforts helping restore local communities native habitats and landscape.
Gold Standard is a certification body that ensures applying environmental projects meets specific criteria to claim a contribution to at least one of the global sustainability goals, some of which include poverty reduction, and economic benefits for developing countries.
United Nations Climate Change is a carbon standard that, like Verra enables a carbon offset project to turn their greenhouse gas emissions reductions into verified carbon offset projects.
Eden Reforestation Projects aims to improve environmental benefits and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by planting trees in the developing world and providing meaningful employment to local communities that are affected by extreme poverty.