Working to offset Base Camp’s CO2 emissions

Base Camp goes carbon neutral

At Base Camp, we’re fully aware that it’s the stunning natural environment which makes the adventure sports we love possible. We’re incredibly respectful of this environment in which we’re fortunate enough to work and enjoy, and so we work very hard to help protect it.

As well as taking great care to help sustain the beautiful resorts from which we operate, we’ve also been working with CO2logic – a specialist organisation that helps companies to become carbon neutral.

Through calculating Base Camp’s emissions created by both our office and our travels, CO2logic has helped us to invest in the Agricultural Waste Farming Programme in South East India – an organisation which produces green, renewable electricity.

The Renewable Energy Programme

The Agricultural Waste Farming Programme produces renewable energy from sustainable, locally grown biomass. This includes rice husk, cotton stalk and paddy straw, without a fossil fuel in sight!

Eco-friendly green power is produced from the biomass – creating significantly less greenhouse gas emissions and enabling local farmers to place a value on the unused part of their crop, which would otherwise be burnt on the fields.

Not only does the programme have an incredible environmental value, it also gives local farmers a year-round income stream, having a really positive impact on local employment and development.

Agricultural waste prices are gradually rising, and so, as carbon funding enables the number of these types of programmes to increase, so will demand for biomass – helping the local rural community out even further.       

Validation from the UN

CO2logic’s project has received the official validation from the United Nations Executive Committee confirming its benefits. These include:

- Contribution to sustainable development

- Green House Gas GHG additionality laugthing

- GHG permanence factor

- Calculations and science used for GHG reduction quantification

- GHG monitoring methodology

- Local environmental impact

- No GHG leakage of benefits

Further steps to reduce carbon

We’re the first to recognise that we’ve achieved carbon neutrality through compensation rather than carbon reductions. Helping to sustain out natural environment is crucial to us, and so we’re also working hard to make reductions wherever we can.

This also extends to Base Camp clients, whose emissions from travel with us are currently excluded from our calculations. To help address this additional carbon output, we will shortly be in a position to provide recommendations to our clients, helping them to offset their carbon emissions while taking part in adventure sports.

To calculate your own carbon emissions, check out the Base Camp Emissions calculator.

Further reading

Some other sites that may be of interest:

www.theecologist.org/current.asp - The Ecologist: environmental affairs magazine

www.ecologic.de/ - The Ecologic: Institute for International and European Environmental Policy

www.greenparty.org.uk/news - Green Party: UK political party

http://earthtrends.wri.org/ - Earth Trends: World Resources Institute

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ - National Geographic Society

http://www.nerc.ac.uk/ - Natural Environment Research Council: Funds world-class science in universities and research centres

www.europeangreens.org/cms/default/rubrik/9/9034.htm - European Green Party: European political party