FRequently asked questions
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General
Why use Climaider?
Climaider is for everyone who wants to take climate action and contribute towards a more sustainable future.
We started Climaider because we felt helpless about the effects of climate change. Because what can you do as an individual to help combat climate change? We want to make it easy for you.
As a member of Climaider, you can finance carbon-reducing projects around the world, removing as much carbon as you emit. With our all-in-one platform, we give our members a custom-tailored carbon footprint reduction plan, all while their contributions go towards some of the best climate projects around the world. Read more here.
How does it work?
At Climaider, we offset your emissions by buying carbon credits from climate projects in the developing countries.
One carbon credit is the equivalence of the removal of 1 tonne of carbon. This means that if we buy one carbon credit, we remove one ton of carbon.
How can I be sure that it works?
Every time we buy carbon credits from the projects, we publish the receipts on our website. That how you know that your money has been used on preventing carbon from going into the atmosphere.
Our job at Climaider is to select projects that are verified by the most strict industry standards (e.g. Gold Standard and Verified Carbon Standard), making sure that your money removes as much carbon as you pay for. You can read more about our projects here.
Is Climaider a charity?
No, Climaider is not a charity. But why, you may think? We want to mitigate global warming as much and as quick as possible. After many internal discussions and external advice, we’ve come to the conclusion that external investments and incentivising team members are necessary. Something that cannot be done as a charity.
Even though we’re a company, we believe in financial transparency (our service cut, salary etc). Read more here.
Offsetting
How offsetting works
We compensate for your CO2 emissions by buying so-called CO2 credits on your behalf. A CO2 credit is an electronic certificate equivalent to a saving of 1 tonne of CO2.
If you buy one CO2 credit, you remove or save what is equivalent to 1 tonne of CO2.In addition to compensating for your imprint, we also give you CO2-reducing tips to help you on your way to a greener lifestyle.
Why we trust our climate projects
We set the strictest requirements for our climate projects. Only projects that have been verified and approved by either the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) or the Gold Standard. These are two organizations that work to assess and control the projects. They are independent of the projects and regularly go out and check that everything is going as it should - and are the two strictest and most thorough standards in the industry. This is also what is recommended by i.a. CONCITO:
"In order to be as effective and credible as possible, however, the purchase of the compensation should only take place through organizations that use the most demanding standards for certification of the projects' CO2 reduction, eg Gold Standard or VCS."
Henrik Gudmundsson - CONCITO, Denmark Green Think Tank
In addition to adhering to these strict standards, we set a wide range of additional requirements and criteria set by our experts, based on the latest research in the field. Therefore, we can say with peace of mind that we believe we offer the very best projects that exist at all.
Offsetting and planting trees?
Trees are important. In fact, extremely important. But they are not as obvious to measure and count in the way that is required to make CO2 credits. Therefore, we remove all the CO2 we need on behalf of the members through other CO2 projects, such as projects where we with technology suck greenhouse gases out of the air, projects where we make sustainable energy or something completely different - and then we plant the trees because everyone knows, that it is important and a good idea.
That way we save a whole lot of CO2 and at the same time plant an incredible amount of trees, but without having to waste unnecessarily much money on having to perform excessive checks and in other ways force the wood projects to work under the credit system square framework. This allows us to spend more money on actually planting trees and less money on bureaucracy and lengthy credit procedures.
Can this solve the climate crisis?
Along with many other things, so yes. We must step in wherever we can. We are so many people on this planet who are worried and go out of their way to solve these problems. The more we work together to do something, the closer we get to solving the problem.
In Climaider, we do not support the discourse that there is one solution. This is the world's biggest problem. We therefore believe that we must both push our politicians for systemic change, restructure our own lives, make technological innovation and buy CO2 credits. The credit approach to solving the climate crisis is to start where the solutions are easiest and make the biggest difference. In other words, we start with the lowest hanging fruits and for that reason the areas we put into are all high on the list of the most effective solutions to global warming - see https://www.drawdown.org/solutions/table-of -solutions.
If, for example, there are huge gas leaks around that could easily be prevented, then we start there. But that does not mean that you should not also work in all possible other areas, or that you should wait to work on the more difficult solutions until all low-hanging fruit has been picked.
Climate projects
How we protect our trees
A number of precautions are taken to secure the trees. First, it is only planted on land where “perpetual contracts” have been signed - ie contracts that state that there must be forest here for time and eternity. It can, for example, be a contract entered into with the local government.
In addition, we do not just go in and plant new forest, but try as far as possible to solve the underlying problems that caused the forest to be felled in the first place. Through their employment with Eden, the locals are lifted out of the extreme poverty that initially forced them to cut down the forests. They plant the forests themselves and thereby gain a sense of belonging on top of the financial incentive they already have from receiving a salary to look after the trees. They are used not only to plant the trees, but just as much to take care of the trees and also protect them against, for example, illegal felling.
Over time, that incentive becomes even stronger, as a percentage of the trees are planted as fruit and nut trees, thereby providing extra income for the locals. At the start of the project, care is also taken to meet the firewood needs that often made people cut down the trees in the first place. By replacing cooking over an open fire with efficient or solar-powered stoves, you ensure that the need for firewood does not exceed what the local environment can carry. As the years go by and the trees grow, the quality of the soil and the environment for the animals also improve. It prevents erosion and holds on to coastlines, which means that agriculture in the areas provides better returns.
The trees we plant are called mangrove trees and stand by the shore. Their roots are in the water and become home to a rich wildlife. It gives the locals their fishing opportunities back. In many indirect ways, the trees also benefit the local population and give them a strong incentive to take care of them. Forest fires are often one of the most feared in connection with wood projects, but since our trees are in water, that risk is largely non-existent. And even if a tree does not survive the planting, or ends up being felled or burned, the trees happily replant themselves by themselves at a rate of 1: 3. That is, for every tree we plant, on average, three living trees end up standing. So if you plant, for example, 15 trees a month, it is likely that you will actually end up with 45. Of course, there is nothing that can be guaranteed 100%.
All of these things make us calm about our trees surviving and thriving, but precisely because we can not guarantee it 110%, it is that we choose to both compensate and plant trees. Therefore, if for some reason something should happen to our trees, then in the worst case we have still removed the CO2 we should without a doubt.
Which climate projects does my money finance?
You can read about the portfolio of climate projects that your money goes to on this page.
Can I visit the projects?
Yes, you can. At the time of writing, we are securing our forest in Madagascar, securing a piece of land, hiring premises, procuring trees, etc. This means that the forest is not there yet - that is a bit of the point.
We update regularly as the project progresses and as soon as we are 100% on exactly where the forest ends up being located, it will be possible to visit. Our CO2-reducing climate projects are also possible to visit.
If you are interested and still in the area, write us an email and we will be happy to help!
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