Fair-trade carbon credits
We get really nerdy about equity in carbon markets and quality carbon credits with ecological benefits so read on!
What is a carbon credit?
One ton of carbon that isn’t causing a problem (like widespread planetary collapse). You either didn’t release it to the atmosphere as C02 (ie. didn’t cut down your rainforest) OR you did everyone a favor and planted some more rainforest so it was helpfully removed from the atmosphere. Want someone else to agree you did it? Great that’s certification – and it costs a lot and takes forever with still-debatable results. (Although we still do it, see below.) Still confused? You’re not alone — most of the world is right now. Here is an incredibly helpful picture ↓
NASA data showing CO2 being added to Earth's atmosphere over the year 2021
Carbon credits are currency of this climate justice problem
The fast oscillation over the Amazon rainforest shows plants absorbing carbon while the sun is shining and releasing it during nighttime hours
Why does an Indigenous-led company do carbon credits?
Carbon is not a bad word, its a basic element. Healthy forests do a lot for the carbon cycle on this planet and we really need nature-based carbon cycling to turn things around. We're committed to ethical business, fair-trade, and kick-butt science when we work with carbon, but we also understand that it’s a tough topic for communities and they are always okay to steer clear of these programs if they feel the market is not working for them. We’re committed to market cleanup but we feel strongly the market needs MASSIVE disintermediation, and the science needs major improvements to adecuately serve forests.
Why should I buy your carbon credits?
Well… #sexytrees? No seriously. Look, we know you have options. But we are like your BEST climate friends. Truly. First, tropical forests like the Amazon not only store carbon. They store most of the carbon on the planet. They are ALSO one of the most important planetary tipping points. AND they have a totally awesome side benefit in local rainfall that cools the planet. There’s a reason everyone always wants to stop deforestation in the Amazon, and we are proud to say, buying your climate services directly from the Amazon and other tropical forests does exactly that. You want to pay the people who can actually get the job done.
Certification, all the nerdy details
We use Cercarbono as a certifying body. Certified credits will be listed with Ecoregistry where they list on several global exchanges and are tracked to retirement. Our forestry projects used to use the REDD+ Grouped Project methodology but we decided that science wasn’t good enough. Now we quantify carbon load using satellite mapping with per-pixel biomass calculations of carbon stocks and we’re switching to the Cambridge PACT ex-post crediting methodology. Satellite data is ground-truthed with randomized carbon studies and allometric calculations. We’re dead serious about additionality, certification, and accurate science.
All credits sold on the site will continue on the certification pipeline, at which point buyers can choose to retire or resell them. We are adding low-tech biochar credits under the Global Artisan Standard but these are still scaling. Any questions about our science can be directed to our Ecology team. We’re more than happy to nerd out about this anytime 😊