Additionality is now, additionality is together

Summary: Additionality is a cornerstone of what we fund at The Carbon Company. This blog post showcases our definition of additionality. On the one hand, additionality refers to the amount of greenhouse gas emissions avoided or sequestered via renewable energy and nature-based solutions. On the other hand, additionality also refers to the strength and speed that collective action and imagination can bring to solving climate change.

At The Carbon Company, we are committed to delivering real and additional positive impact to address climate change. Real climate solutions are those that focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in scalable and replicable ways. We think of additionality in terms of (1) emissions avoided or sequestered and (2) harnessed social power to magnify and accelerate results.

Source: Freepik

Emissions Additionality

The concept of carbon additionality has gained significant attention in recent years, particularly with regards to carbon offsets and mitigation projects. At The Carbon Company, we have decided to focus our support on avoided emissions and reduction in already existing greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, rather than indirect offsets. We fund projects that can have a large-scale impact.

Source: Freepik

We also believe in the power of nature-based solutions (NbS) as a way to harness the power of nature to address environmental and societal challenges. These solutions often encompass the conservation, restoration, and sustainable management of ecosystems, as well as the integration of their functions and services into human systems. More often than not, NbS offer reduction - also called mitigation by climate insiders - potential through sequestering additional emissions. While we don’t believe carbon offsets accurately capture the urgency of the climate crisis, natural carbon sinks with significant sequestering potential will be needed as part of the solution.

By focusing on avoided and sequestered emissions, we hope to invest in decarbonization projects with scalable, measurable, and replicable results with visible impacts in the short term (less than two years). The concept of carbon additionality plays a crucial role in determining the effectiveness and credibility of various projects we invest in. Carbon additionality addresses the question of whether a particular project or action leads to a net reduction in greenhouse gas emissions beyond what would have occurred without that intervention.

Source: Freepik

Understanding Carbon Additionality

Carbon additionality assesses the genuine climate benefits of a project by comparing its actual emissions reduction to a hypothetical scenario where no intervention was made. It seeks to avoid accounting for emissions reductions that would have happened anyway, referred to as baseline emissions, thus ensuring that the claimed benefits are genuinely additional.

Source: Freepik

Let's consider a hypothetical situation in which a company plans to build a wind farm in a region that primarily relies on coal-fired power plants for electricity generation. The wind farm is expected to produce a significant amount of clean, renewable energy. To determine carbon additionality, we need to compare the emissions that would occur with the wind farm to what would have happened without it.

Let’s say that in our example the coal-fired power plants emitted on average 150,000 metric tons of CO2 per year, the baseline amount of emissions. If the wind farm emits only 30,000 metric tons each year, we can say that the farm achieved a net reduction of 120,000 metric tons of CO2 each year, representing its carbon additionality. However, it is important to take into consideration emissions released during construction and decommission as well, both of which were ignored in this example for simplicity.

Source: Freepik

Understanding Social Power Additionality

At The Carbon Company, we believe in harnessing the world’s collective power to solve climate change. When individuals work together towards a common goal or cause, the combined influence, strength, and agency results in positive change that is greater than the sum of its parts. For us, speed is of utmost importance for climate impact. By joining our voices and mobilizing both our financial and social capital, we can catalyze positive change decades faster than when acting alone. In other words, together we are stronger and faster. Together we can deliver our vision of a better world.

The Carbon Crew, our shared community and platform, will leverage the inspiration and aspiration of millions of people, as well as empower communities to address climate change from an intersectional perspective. We recognize the immense strength that lies within unity and wish to harness the transformative potential of collaboration and solidarity in shaping a more inclusive and resilient world. Please join us on this transformative journey.

To learn more about Additionality and how your contribution can help accelerate solutions to climate change, please visit our website, follow us on social media, and reach out to us.

Let’s make a difference together.