13 Mar What does it mean to be “carbon neutral”?

With just under 7 years to go until we reach the goals proposed by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we are increasingly seeing the advancement of themes such as Carbon Neutral, or “Zero Carbon”, present in people’s daily lives and, especially, in corporate environments.

But, after all, what does it mean when a company is certified with the “Carbon Neutral” or “Zero Carbon” seal?

This means that the company, in some way, emits greenhouse gases (GHG), including carbon dioxide (CO2), into the atmosphere in order to carry out its activities – which has always been a problem for all companies – but by seeking carbon neutrality in its processes, it demonstrates concern in understanding and mitigating its impact on the planet.

When Canopée receives contact from a company that wants to be “Zero Carbon”, it takes action by developing sustainable socio-environmental projects, that is, projects that conserve the forest, protect biodiversity and ensure social benefits to local populations, allowing the “neutralization” of emissions of these polluting gases.

This neutralization occurs because among the numerous actions of a project like this is the conservation of “standing” native forests, as one of the alternatives to avoid consequences for the environment and climate change (the latter caused especially by excess pollutants such as carbon dioxide – CO2).

Primary forests, and specifically the Amazon rainforest, are a very powerful machine for capturing CO2, much more so than a forest planted by humans. For this reason, the action of preserving areas of the Amazon rainforest from deforestation is considered globally (UN principles) as an act of offsetting GHG emissions, even more efficient than planting trees. Canopée's Yuxibu Project falls within the REDD+ mechanism, that is, it generates its credits from the preservation of the native Amazon rainforest.

In other words, for a company to be certified “zero carbon” it must commit to reducing or offsetting its emissions. Remembering that it is also possible to balance both alternatives.

In practical terms, Canopée calculates how much greenhouse gas is emitted by that company, the environmental impacts and the main medium and long-term alternatives to neutralize these emissions.

A carbon credit is equivalent to one ton of carbon. By mapping how much greenhouse gases a company emits, it is possible to calculate how many credits it would need to acquire to neutralize these emissions and not harm the environment.

The benefits of this realignment may not be so visible at first, but in the long term the results are very impactful, both for the environment (of course!) and for branding with the strengthening of the brand, new opportunities for partnerships and/or investments, restructuring of communities located near carbon neutralization projects, not to mention the legacy of contributing to the regeneration of the planet.

Being “zero carbon” means reviewing certain practices that are harmful to the environment and improving people's quality of life to ensure a promising future for human beings, living beings and nature.