CARBON OFFSETS
A voluntary option for CEE meeting attendees

In addition to your everyday work to reduce carbon emissions, you may be interested in offsetting your travel to and from CEE meetings. We have compiled several resources to aid in the decision making process of meeting attendees who wish to offset their travel emissions.

Offsetting emissions is entirely voluntary for CEE meeting attendees. The information below neither represents nor implies an endorsement of any kind by CEE. CEE does not perform any verification of the offset projects.

Finding a Carbon Offset Vendor
Many companies offer carbon offsets for sale online. These sources maintain lists of carbon offset vendors:


Carbon Offsets Survey
Maintained by EcoBusinessLinks Environmental Directory


Carbon Catalog
A worldwide directory of carbon offset providers, including North America

Standards, Certifications, and Verifications
There are many standards used to certify and verify carbon offset projects. Here are a few labels to consider as you evaluate the quality of the offsets you're considering purchasing:


Clean Development Mechanism
Registers projects in developing countries; implemented under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.


Gold Standard
An international certification company that provides a best practice methodology and a high quality carbon credit label.


Voluntary Carbon Standards
An international standard for voluntary carbon offset projects.


Green-e
An independent certification and verification program for renewable energy and greenhouse gas emission reductions in the retail market.


ICROA (International Carbon Reduction and Offset Alliance)
A non-profit alliance of leading carbon reduction and offset organizations dedicated to advocating rigorous industry standards.

Other Resources
Flying Green: A Consumer Handout
Based on a report from the Tufts Climate Initiative (2007)


A Consumer's Guide to Retail Carbon Offset Providers
A report from Clean Air-Clean Planet (2006, PDF)


Making Sense of the Voluntary Carbon Market: A Comparison of Carbon Offset Standards
A World Wildlife Fund report by the Stockholm Environment Institute and Tricorona (2008, PDF)

CEE is also taking steps to reduce energy and pollution at its meetings. For further information, see CEE's "Green Meeting" policy.