CCF Executive Director Christopher Brandt (right) hands over the official document that confirms the CO2-neutralization to the Executive Director of Port Hamburg Marketing, Axel Mattern
Our program „Offset Your Life” as well as our cooperation with Port of Hamburg Marketing e.V. enabled us to withdraw more than 2,000 emission certificates in 2012.
Moreover, our technically and legally profound submissions helped avoiding significant misapplications of CDM-regulation to specific CDM projects and thereby avert an issuance of more than 500.000 faulty carbon credits annually. Had these certificates become available to carbon markets, surplus emissions would have occurred. Each year, the avoided amounts of greenhouse gases correspond to a climate impact caused by a car drive of about 225 Million kilometers – or 5,600 times around Earth’s equator.
In 2013, our engagement was recognized by the UNFCCC-Secretariat: The Climate Concept Foundation was acknowledged as official UN-observer organization.
Previous CCF-strategy: Offer carbon neutralized products and services
However, the foundation’s strategy – to offer carbon neutralized products and services in cooperation with partner organizations – requires a functioning emission trading system. Our acquisition of emission certificates aimed at permanently withdrawing them from carbon markets for the sake of voluntary compensation will only be effective, if a shortage in certificates can be generated. Unfortunately, EU emission trading markets are hampered by a large amount of surplus certificates. For this reason, it does no longer have any effect on industrial emissions in Europe. Shortening supply of certificates in EU emissions trading will therefore no longer be a viable strategy for reducing emissions.
New CCF-strategy: Improve the framework for emission reduction activities & focuse on wetland conservation
Duvenstedter Brook, Germany
We are still convinced that, in general, the instrument of an emission trading system could achieve a significant contribution to climate change mitigation. Therefore, we will continue our efforts to improve the framework for international reduction activities on UN-level.
Because we presently cannot make use of functioning carbon markets, we decided in 2014 to start initiating on the ground emission reduction activities ourselves focusing on wetland conservation.
