Carbon Offsets or CO2 Offsets?
The term ‘carbon’ is often used as shorthand for carbon dioxide (CO2), as in ‘carbon footprint’ and the ‘carbon market’. Care must be taken when referring to what has been offset, however. There is a whole basket of gases that are contributing to climate change, and these are collectively referred to as ‘greenhouse gases’ (GHGs). The main greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide (CO2), and this has become the standard measure of emissions. Other GHGs are converted into ‘carbon dioxide equivalents’ (CO2e) in order to have a common currency when discussing emissions. Climate Care follows this practice. Our calculators work out the quantity of greenhouse gases, and express them in the figure of tonnes of CO2. Our projects also reduce emissions of greenhouse gases other than CO2, and convert these to carbon dioxide equivalents.
