Carbon Mitigation for the NAE: Corporate Use Case

So far in the ‘use case’ series of posts, we have looked at carbon mitigation solutions that have been pioneered by impactChoice which can also be applied to the Natural Asset Exchange (NAE). In this post, we will take a closer look at why Oracle Corporation chose to apply impactChoice’s carbon mitigation solution and how other corporations, communities, and organizations can achieve similar results in terms of carbon neutrality.

The South African branch of Oracle first chose to work with impactChoice to implement their carbon mitigation solution as far back as 2009. This was then later expanded to include events across Africa and Europe. The main objective was to offset energy-related carbon emissions at Oracle events and make a positive contribution to the environment and impoverished communities, while also providing Carbon Footprint insights and credits to be included in Corporate Citizenship and Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) reports.

The Program Benefits

First and foremost, implementing the carbon mitigation solution at these corporate events gave Oracle the ability to have a positive impact on the environment through emission mitigation that had a direct impact on forest rehabilitation, conservation and carbon sequestration projects. This program allowed funds to be released to communities in need that could empower them by providing them with direct education and training along with the infrastructure needed to execute the environmental programs.

As a company, Oracle was able to include the amounts of tangible carbon reductions from the event in CDP reports. More subtle benefits, yet ones that can go a long way, are the positive impression they made on their clients and the broader community. Their customers left the events with an increased awareness of their environmental footprint and what kind of programs were being funded in the mitigation process.

Corporate customers were also able to use their carbon mitigation certificates to claim the Scope 3 Carbon emissions reductions made on their behalf and include them corporate sustainability reports, share them on social media and incorporate them in their marketing to raise awareness of their participation.

Implementing the program also gave Oracle extensive data and insights on what kind of environmental footprint their events were having. These insights could be used to plan future events in ways that reduced their overall impact on the environment.

Carbon Mitigation In Action

Together with corporate events planning teams, impactChoice audited emissions related to complete event execution to determine the overall Carbon footprint associated with each event. Industry best practices were then implemented to reduce emissions as far as possible. The residual emissions footprint of each attendee at the event was the determined and mitigated by purchasing offsets via an international acclaimed sustainability project.

impactChoice issued each event attendee a Micro-Carbon Mitigation certificate representing the source ‘natural asset’ (Carbon Credit) purchased on their behalf to make their individual participation at the event Carbon Neutral. Each certificate was totally auditable and stood as proof of their participation in an action that had a positive environmental impact.

The Sustainability dashboard, included as part of impactChoice’s solution, provided Oracle representatives with in-depth insights into emissions footprint, mitigation credits, and customer behaviour across all events utilizing the platform.

The granularity of the impact was down to the fidelity of the actual accredited projects that were being supported such as the Sofala Community Carbon Project, managed by the Africa Carbon Livelihoods Trust, in Mozambique. This project was dedicated to implementing forestry and agroforestry activities designed to enhance sustainable livelihoods in the local communities, rehabilitate severely damaged forest environments and promote biodiversity and carbon sequestration.

As organizations become more environmentally responsible, and increasingly track and report their Carbon emissions, whether voluntarily or to adhere to governmental environmental compliance stipulations, they need insights across all their operations, employees, customers and partners. The impactChoice Carbon Mitigation solution does that.

Going Global

This case study highlights how easy it is for companies to get involved and take responsible corporate action. This leads to both tangible and intangible benefits for the environment, the community and the company.

The carbon mitigation solution is one of a suite of solutions that impactChoice plans to make available for other corporates, communities, and organizations to use on the NAE. EARTH Tokens will be used to purchase carbon mitigation assets directly from natural asset suppliers operating on the exchange. The NAE will launch with inaugural supply-side partners comprised of certified environmental projects that provide a positive environmental impact.

The global nature of permissionless trading on the NAE means that projects from around the world will be able to participate and attract natural asset buyers on a global scale. This is a unique opportunity for the planet and for all environmentally responsible corporations, communities, and citizens.