Fiona Warburton
University of Otago
Joe Cooper
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There is debate about whether carbon offsets are a good thing for the environment as fewer than 10% of air travelers offset their flights (Ritchie et al., 2020). While it is always best to reduce or remove emissions, there are some that are simply unavoidable. The development of technology to reduce or remove these emissions even further is underway; however, it will take time for these to come to fruition and be implemented at a meaningful scale. Carbon offsets allow for the emissions happening now to be offset, reducing negative impact.
Part of the problem with carbon offsetting, for both businesses and consumers, is that it is difficult to understand the impact of the differing offset projects as many examples of carbon offset projects do not achieve what they are say they are going to do. CarbonClick was created to resolve these issues by creating an easy-to-understand solution while building trust in worthwhile projects that align with the values of a business or individual.
Having a impactful, trustworthy and simple carbon offset solution increases the uptake of carbon offsets which contributes to the UN SDG of Climate Action by reducing emissions and reaching net zero by 2050. So far, CarbonClick has purchased an excess of 282 million kilograms of carbon offsets from over 1,100 businesses and over 200,000 individuals, making a significant contribution to reducing emissions.
CarbonClick's approach to carbon offsetting builds trust by only considering projects that meet the requirements of International Carbon Reduction and Offsetting Accreditation (ICROA) Code of Best Practice, and where possible, have benefits beyond carbon offsetting for the local community. These are then reviewed by CarbonClicks network of industry experts. CarbonClick provides transparency to both businesses and consumers by giving them the ability to trace exactly which projects they have supported through their offsets.
CarbonClick is an easy to use and understand, fully verified and traceable carbon offset product that can be used by both small and large businesses in New Zealand, where it was founded. CarbonClick’s goal is to encourage carbon offsets of unavoidable emissions through making the process simple, meaningful and trustworthy.
The founders of CarbonClick noticed, through their experience in the aviation industry, that there was resistance, particularly from air travelers, to offsetting the emissions from their flights. The group of founders had extensive experience across airlines, airports, and the creation of carbon offset programs for the aviation industry. Michelle, who was interviewed, spent 20 years in the aviation industry.
Resistance to carbon offsetting can be seen in Air New Zealand’s 2022 Sustainability Report telling us that only 6.9% of Air New Zealand flights were offset by passengers, and in general fewer than 10% of air travelers offsetting their flights (Ritchie et al., 2020). To encourage greater uptake of carbon offsetting, by businesses and their customers, CarbonClick identified three key elements a carbon offset needs to have: it is simple; the offsets are meaningful; and they are trustworthy.
Simplicity comes from having a single framework that is communicated clearly either through a white label solution for larger businesses or through the ecommerce app-based Climate Friendly Cart product where all the information on the offsets can be found. Significant carbon offsets are achieved through only considering validated projects that provide permanent offsets, that provide additional benefits locally and that support the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Trustworthiness is achieved through transparency and the ability to “track and trace” what the offsets they have purchased have supported.
Having worked in the aviation industry for 20 years Michelle understood the necessity of reducing travel related emissions. Ideally emissions should be removed and reduced but some emissions are simply unavoidable, at least in the short term. This is particularly the case in a country like New Zealand where geography means that some air travel is often a necessity. As Michelle said, creating CarbonClick is a step toward “doing the right thing for the climate”. It was clear that consumer concerns about carbon offsets, caused by media, often focus on poorly designed offsets that could be considered greenwashing, however, by being transparent, trust in the offsets could be built. As Michelle points out without transparency “you don't actually know that your money's gone to the right place”. With CarbonClicks tracking capability “the moment that someone offsets they can instantly see exactly where the money's gone and we show all the information”
When CarbonClick launched their focus was on the travel industry but, with the COVID-19 pandemic hitting in early 2020, they needed to make a significant pivot. The pivot was made by creating an app that allowed ecommerce stores to offset their unavoidable emissions using the framework that CarbonClick had built. As Michelle noted, this “allowed smaller businesses to accumulate the microtransactions, making it more meaningful with really high-quality projects that are more localized depending on where you make the purchase”. When purchasing online the customer simply adds a carbon offset to their online shopping cart.
Since CarbonClick’s launch in 2019 over 282 million kilograms of carbon offsets have been purchased, representing the emissions from over 150,000 flights between Auckland and London. More than 1,100 businesses use CarbonClick from small New Zealand wineries such as Round Theory Wines, to some of the UK’s busiest airports, Manchester and London Stansted, and airlines such as Etihad. The selected projects not only help reduce carbon emissions but provide additional benefits to the community or biodiversity that is local to the project. This can be seen, for example, in the Tambopata-Bahuaja Biodiversity Reserve project. The project protects almost 600,000 hectares of forest in Madre de Dios, Peru, also supports local jobs through restoration of cacao production.
The fact that passengers chose to only offset emission of 6.9% of Air New Zealand flights in 2022 demonstrates a hesitancy by customers to offset their carbon emissions because of concerns about the validity and impact of carbon offsets. In contrast, some of the businesses that use CarbonClick have uptake of around 50%. The impact will increase over time as awareness and trust in CarbonClick continues to build.
CarbonClick’s co-founders had previously worked on establishing carbon offset programs for individual large businesses but felt that carbon offsetting would be more effective and efficient if there was a single carbon offset program that was used by large and small businesses. There are now more than 1,100 businesses have used CarbonClick including a several high-profile businesses including Etihad and SAP. New Zealand’s Automobile Association loyalty program AA Rewards also offers the ability to redeem points for carbon offsets.
Utilizing the CarbonClick framework across multiple businesses means that there is no unnecessary duplication in due diligence and projects that do what they say will do. It means smaller businesses are able to offset their carbon emissions, which they would not have been able to do easily without an app like CarbonClick. CarbonClick’s Climate Friendly Cart app has been successfully expanded from being launched on Shopify to include WooCommerce and Magento to increase the number of ecommerce merchants offsetting their carbon.
Achieving B Corp status in January 2022 has provided another level of credibility to CarbonClick. As a startup that is taking positive action on the climate, CarbonClick has been able to attract investment and will continue to grow to build and scale the impact they have already made.
In addition to the permanent offset of significant amounts of carbon, all of the projects that CarbonClick invests carbon offsets in also support progress towards at least three of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The goals supported varies depending on the project. For example, the Woodland Creation in the Lake District project in Cumbria to new mixed woodland will link other forest areas to create a corridor for wildlife. This project supports goals 3 Good and Wellbeing, 13 Climate Action, 14 Life Under Water, and 15 Life on Land through as carbon will be absorbed by the trees and will also help with flood mitigation. In contrast, a project such as the Nuetech Solar Heater Program, in Bangalore India, provides reduced cost solar water heaters to local residents, hospitals, schools and businesses. This project supports the goals of 1 No Poverty, 3 Good Health and Wellbeing, 7 Affordable and Clean Energy, 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth through by reducing on coal heating.
The range of goals that CarbonClick’s projects support demonstrate that the projects invested in are able to provide benefits beyond emissions reduction to include job creation, gender equality, health improvements, and improvements in biodiversity in the projects local area.
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Michelle Noordermeer, COO and Cofounder
CarbonClick was founded in 2019 to provide a simple carbon offsetting solution to businesses and individuals initially centered around the aviation industry. The aim is to provide a carbon offset solution that is trusted and makes a meaningful difference to the environment and society through the programs that they work with. They focus on offsetting unavoidable emissions that are currently emitted, while technologies are developed to make greenhouse gas emissions avoidable. CarbonClick became B Corp Certified in January 2022.