Carbon management and the ‘greening’ of conservation organisations in Cambridge

In 2008, a report commissioned by the Cambridge Conservation Forum (CCF) and UNEP-WCMC, reviewed the state of the voluntary carbon market and how organisations in Cambridge offset and reduce their carbon emissions. Building on this report, the Shared Challenges Programme brought together representatives from a range of CCF and CCI partner organisations and the University of Cambridge on 9th December 2010 for an update on the steps they take to carbon offsetting and reduction, to share experience and to think about developing potential common approaches to managing carbon emissions.

Naturally, organisations and University departments take a wide variety of different approaches to both offsetting and carbon management. A CCI-CCF Carbon Management Task Force was therefore formed to pool this experience and knowledge. Key activities of the Task Force are to:

1. Share information and knowledge about successful emissions reduction strategies
2. Share recommendations on methods and tools to help reduce carbon, including running remote meetings and software for video-conferencing and carbon budgeting
3. Share information about problems encountered and offsetting opportunities to help organisations make informed choices about where and how to offset
4. Produce guidance on how organisations have successfully presented offsetting and reduction programs to their board & funders

Project Aims

This project aims to share information and knowledge about successful carbon reduction strategies used by CCI partners, departments and colleges in Cambridge and to draw upon this experience to find ways in which conservation organisations can reduce their carbon footprint in all aspects of their operation.

Key Activities

• A joint CCI and CCF meeting at UNEP-WCMC (on the 9th December 2010) discussed the carbon emissions reduction strategies and carbon offsetting approaches employed by conservation organisations based in and around Cambridge and departments and colleges in the University of Cambridge.
• Following the establishment of a CCI-CCF Carbon Management Task Force, a series of meetings in 2011 (23rd February and 26th May) and 2012 (23rd February, 18th April and 31st July) discussed ways in which organisations could share information and knowledge about successful emissions reduction strategies.

Conservation Impact

The CCI and CCF Task Force has catalyzed continued discussion about ways to reduce the carbon footprint of conservation organisations based in Cambridge. This has facilitated changes in practice by some organisations already, and it is hoped that the launch of the new report will stimulate further changes in and outside CCI. This will benefit conservation by reducing emissions that could cause climate change and by saving money, which can then be spent on conservation activities.

• CCI-catalyzed-project-5-CARBON-MANAGEMENT-Factsheet-19-June-2013.pdf (PDF, 946.98 Kb)

Outputs

1. Notes from the joint CCI/CCF discussion meeting
2. A report entitled Reducing the carbon footprint of conservation organisations