Why Carbon Positive? Understanding Carbon Terminology.

We have been heartened this year to see so many organisations and individuals making a pledge towards becoming carbon neutral and setting goals and targets around their journey. In spite of, and perhaps because of COVID-19, individuals and organisations are not waiting for governments and are setting their own goals and targets, and communicating them to their stakeholders. From our own research of organisations this year, we also know that internal pressure from employees and management has a huge impact. Employees want to work for organisations that are not just environmentally-conscious, but that are seeking to be leaders in this space. There is a growing recognition by everyone that the climate emergency is now upon us and that urgent action is required to bring our climate back to balance.

The climate crisis is becoming more evident. The 2019/2020 fire season in Australia was unprecedented and the loss of natural habitat, flora and fauna was almost unbearable to witness. All around the world, we are witnessing extraordinary changes in the climate, and the impacts and costs to lives and livelihoods grow over time. 

We have been heartened this year to see so many organisations and individuals making a  pledge towards becoming carbon neutral and setting goals and targets around their journey. In spite of, and perhaps because of COVID-19, individuals and organisations are not waiting for governments and are setting their own goals and targets, and communicating them to their stakeholders. From our own research of organisations this year, we also know that internal pressure from employees and management has a huge impact. Employees want to work for organisations that are not just environmentally-conscious, but that are seeking to be leaders in this space.

There is a growing recognition by everyone that the climate emergency is now upon us and that urgent action is required to bring our climate back to balance. 

Many individuals and businesses are also now deciding to go one step further and faster by becoming carbon positive. This means that they are setting targets not just to become carbon neutral, but to offset more than their current emissions and to support the use of fully renewable energy.

A stable climate means that we can flourish and that we can build a society and an economy for future generations. Different goals for becoming carbon positive are being set, but they often look like:

  1. Playing a role in halting deforestation
  2. Eliminating deforestation in the supply chain
  3. Eliminating fossil fuel use
  4. Choosing a supply chain that is at “least” carbon neutral
  5. Supporting sustainable agriculture
  6. Sourcing all energy needs from renewables
  7. Playing a role in offsetting the carbon emitted through the past burning of fossil fuels
  8. Putting in place strategic and operational policies that support a carbon positive future
  9. Advocating for public policy changes to bring about transformational change
  10. Supporting nature based solutions to climate change such as reforestation

Terminology in the carbon world has always been a bit of an issue and there has been some misunderstanding between the terms carbon positive and/or carbon negative, but whether the organisation says it’s positive or negative their goals are the same. We prefer the term carbon positive because of the many other benefits that accrue from meeting the goal.

Woolworths, Unilever, The Guardian, and Microsoft are leading the way in their announcements to the public, their goal setting, and their messages to their stakeholder groups that they want to remove more carbon from the atmosphere than they are emitting. We are keen to assist everyone with their goal regardless of terminology. 

We want to live in a world where we all play an active role in climate solutions; where we support each other to not just turn around climate change, but innovate and create solutions that ensure a healthy future for generations to come.

As an organisation we also believe that nature-based solutions, such as tree planting and regenerative and sustainable agricultural practices, are fundamental for a carbon positive future. There are so many other positive benefits such as:

  • Improved health & wellbeing
  • Providing much needed habitats
  • Protecting and increasing biodiversity
  • Protecting rare species
  • Improving the water table and water quality
  • Protecting our soil from erosion and salinity

These and many more benefits have a positive impact both environmentally and socially. 

We want to inspire Australia towards giving back more than we take.  We want to challenge you to offset your carbon footprint, reduce your overall carbon impact, and plant more trees for all of our futures.

To find out more about what it means to be carbon positive, please contact us.

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