Need Inspiration for this Earth Day?

Offsetters highlights recent global stories on innovative carbon management

VANCOUVER, April 18, 2013 /CNW/ - Since launching in 2005, Vancouver-based Offsetters Climate Solutions has worked with more than 150 clients in various sectors helping to offset more than six million tonnes of carbon, the equivalent of taking more than 1.25 million cars off the road for one year.

"As we mark the 43rd annual Earth Day, our team is inspired by so many of our partners who were early adopters and are leaders when it comes to managing and taking responsibility for their own carbon footprints," says Jeff Calvert, CFO and VP, sales and marketing for Offsetters Climate Solutions. "On a global level, we are proud of these game changing initiatives when it comes to how we think about carbon management."

• In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Mai Ndombe REDD+ project protects approximately 300,000 hectares of humid tropical and swamp forest located in the Congo River Basin, providing habitat for threatened and endemic species as well as important landscape-level connectivity. Beyond the direct climate benefits, the Mai Ndombe project will conserve ecosystem integrity and wildlife habitat, while facilitating sustainable development and conservation initiatives in local communities. Several social and economic community benefits will result from project activities including: building schools and healthcare centres, assisting with transportation to off-concession markets for agricultural and other products, improved agricultural and aquaculture production techniques, and recruitment of employees from the local communities.
  
  
• Along British Columbia's North and Central Coast and Haida Gwaii, Offsetters managed the development of the Great Bear Forest Carbon Project, an Improved Forest Management project which generates emission reductions by protecting forest areas that were previously designated, sanctioned or approved for commercial logging. Without offset funds, these protected areas would not have been established and tree harvest levels would not have been reduced. The Great Bear Rainforest is unique as it is the only forest management project of its scale in North America. It involves an unprecedented level of collaboration between local First Nations and the BC Government, strong legal and policy foundations, and robust data to support the quantification of ecosystem services. This is not a conservation project; it is a model for sustainable development in an ecologically and culturally vulnerable area, that is also economically valuable. Funds from the sale of carbon offsets in the Great Bear Rainforest will go towards creating jobs within the local First Nations communities. By creating a conservation economy that puts a dollar value on carbon absorption, funds are returned to the original stewards of this land. Returning forest management to the coastal First Nations provides new employment opportunities at home for First Nations in the Great Bear Rainforest.
  
  
• Fifty per cent of the harvested Canadian boreal forest is currently used to produce paper products. In late 2012, Offsetters released a research study that compared Manitoba's Prairie Pulp & Paper Inc.'s newly launched 80 per cent wheat straw-based Step Forward Paper^™ with other copy paper types available in North America. Research results demonstrate that Step Forward Paper's™ wheat straw-based paper is the best performing copy paper type studied, with the lowest overall climate impact. Why was this important? Canada's boreal forest is home to eight of the 10 largest intact forest ecosystems left in the world. The boreal forest contains an interconnected ecosystem of plants, animals, insects and microorganisms that interact with the physical environment of soil, water and air. This essential global resource plays a significant role in mitigating climate change by absorbing and storing carbon dioxide.
  
  
• Following the success of the 2010 Games, Offsetters helped to offset the 2011 Baltimore Indy, the CFL Grey Cup (2012), Canada's Olympic team for the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games, and in 2013 signed an agreement with the America's Cup Event Authority to help the organizers of the Summer of Racing in San Francisco to reach its sustainability goal of having the event be carbon neutral. Offsetters will provide a portfolio of high quality carbon credits that have strong links to marine benefits and the sport of sailing while managing the America's Cup Sustainability Credit ("ACSC") Program. In late 2011, Offsetters CEO James Tansey was selected as an adviser to the United Nations Environment Programme to Sochi 2014, helping to provide support to the organization to identify and mitigate environmental impacts surrounding the upcoming Winter Olympics.

About Offsetters Climate Solutions
Offsetters is North America's leading carbon management solutions provider. Founded in 2005, the company helps organizations and individuals understand, reduce, and offset their climate impact. Offsetters was the first official supplier of carbon offsets in the history of the Olympic movement (Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games). Its team of industry leaders specializes in the origination, development and commercialization of high-quality carbon offset projects and is proud to also provide clients with a comprehensive offering of sustainability consultancy services. Based in Vancouver, Canada, Offsetters has worked with over 150 of the world's most prestigious organizations including Aimia and lululemon athletica. For more information, please visit www.offsetters.ca.

SOURCE: Offsetters Climate Solutions