Carbon Offset

We see it as our mission to counteract the development of environmental pollution by helping to keep the sea and the air clean and our earth healthy. Therefore we decided to supporting organizations that fight global warming.

So we started to calculate and offset the carbon emissions caused by our products and processes by supporting recognized carbon offset projects. Besides avoidance and reduction, offsetting carbon emissions represents an additional important step in comprehensive climate protection.

Greenhouse gases like CO2 disperse uniformly throughout the atmosphere, which means the concentration of greenhouse gases is approximately the same all over the planet. Thus, the location on Earth where emissions are generated or saved is irrelevant when it comes to the global concentration of greenhouse gases and the greenhouse effect. That is why emissions that cannot be avoided locally can be mathematically offset through climate protection measures at another location.

We take these efforts very seriously because we are responsible for ensuring that also future generations can experience the stoke of surfing elements.

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How does a carbon offset project work ?

Carbon offset projects demonstrably save greenhouse gases through activities such as afforestation or renewable energies. Independent organizations such as TÜV, SGS, PwC, and others check the exact volume saved. The project operator can finance the project through the sale of certified emission reductions. Only projects requiring additional financial support are recognized as carbon offset projects.

Carbon offset projects must meet internationally recognized standards. The most important criteria here are:

a) Additionality

It must be ensured that the project can only be realized if it receives additional financing through emissions trading. This means the project must be reliant upon emissions trading in order to cover its financial needs.

b) Exclusion of double counting

It must be ensured that the carbon emissions saved are only counted once — by the certificate owner. In particular, this means that certificates may only be sold once and then have to be retired.

c) Permanence

Emissions savings must take place permanently. For example, carbon sequestration in forests must be long-term in nature. A reforested area that is turned back into a livestock pasture through slash-and-burn farming a few years later cannot receive recognition as a carbon offset project.

d) Auditing on a regular basis by independent third parties

Carbon offset projects must be audited in regular intervals according to the criteria listed above. Independent third parties such as TÜV, SGS, or PwC perform these audits. Audits like these retroactively determine the actual volume of carbon emissions saved.

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How become products climate compensated?

Companies, processes and products are termed "climate compensated" when their carbon emissions have been calculated and offset by supporting recognized carbon offset projects. Besides avoidance and reduction, offsetting carbon emissions represents an additional important step in comprehensive climate protection.

Our products are rendered climate compensated in three steps:

Step 1: Calculating emissions

We have calculated the relevant carbon emissions of our company, reduced them as much as possible, and calculated the emissions generated by our products.

The product carbon footprint is calculated based on factors such as raw materials, production, and logistics. In addition we take our general business activities into account, such as administration and business travels.

Step 2: Offsetting emissions

Carbon offset projects save or sequestrate emissions through measures such as afforestation or the replacement of fossil fuel technologies through innovative, climate-friendly alternatives. By supporting one of these projects, you can offset the carbon emissions caused by the production, packaging and transportation of our products.

All projects are regularly audited by independent organizations and certified according to international standards, meaning that you can be sure the measures are being implemented on site.

Step 3: Tracking the carbon offset

You obtain full transparency thanks to the ClimatePartner label featuring a unique ID for your order: By entering the ID at www.climatepartner.com, you can find information on the quantity of emissions offset and the carbon offset project you are supporting.

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ABOUT CLIMATE PARTNER

ClimatePartner is a leading solutions provider for corporate climate protection. Together with its clients, ClimatePartner implements customized solutions for calculating and offsetting CO2 emissions to achieve climate compensation for companies, services and products.

As part of this process, ClimatePartner ensures transparency through a clear labeling system that is anchored in an IT solution certified by the Austrian technical inspection authority (TÜV Austria). ClimatePartner is considered to be the inventor of the climate compensated printing process and participated in the creation of ISO 16759 for carbon footprinting for print products.

Clean Electricity and support for local communites

The project activity involves the construction, commissioning and operation of a 51.2 MW wind farm in the state of Gujarat in India. The power plant comprises 64 wind turbine generators with a rated capacity 800 KW each and of the type Enercon E-53. The project generates an average of 115.312 GWh of electricity per year which is supplied to the state electricity utility. Thereby the wind farm contributes to reducing the energy demand supply gap in the state of Gujarat. The project also stimulates a sustainable economic growth in the region by providing clean electricity to the state grid.

The project replaces greenhouse gas emissions by displacing the equivalent amount of electricity generation through the operation of existing fuel mix in the grid comprising mainly fossil fuel based power plants and future capacity expansions connected to the grid.

Improving Livelihodds through afforestation

The project saves greenhouse gases through afforestation in the counties of Huangping, Wengan and Anlong in Guizhou Province. These counties belong to China’s most impoverished areas, with most residents having no education and ethnic minorities make up a large share of the population. Irrational exploitation of soil resources have led to increasing rocky desertification and land degradation, which in negatively affect the survival of animal and plant species as well as socio-economic development.

The project uses native species like fir, cypress and pine with great vitality and adaptation to Karst area, planted on 39,000 hectares of barren lands. The afforestation areas belong to the villagers are managed by village committees. The project provides 28,500 jobs for locals, 60 percent of them being women. Besides the greenhouse gas sequestration, the project contribtues to biodiversity conservation by increasing the connectivity of forests, improved soil and water conservation and generates income and job opportunities for local communities.