It’s simply good for business to be part of a low carbon future
Natural Balance forms Wonderbag partnerships with companies looking to reduce CO2 emissions, while alleviating poverty and creating employment. We help companies meet their Corporate Social Responsibilities and environmental ambitions. Association with Wonderbag enhances your green credentials.
How are carbon credits validated?
Carbon credits explained by Dr Adam Harvey, Wonderbag carbon consultant.
Due to its potential to mitigate the effects of climate change, the Wonderbag project is being registered by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project. The CDM allows Natural Balance to earn and trade certified emission reduction (CER) credits, commonly called ‘carbon credits’ each equivalent to 1 tonne of CO2.
What does UNFCCC accreditation mean?
Wonderbag is proudly one of very few CDM projects being UNFCCC registered on the continent and the first in South Africa. This status is highly sought after and some would say, a thing only people 'mad enough' dare achieve. It is the stamp of approval by the world's most globally influential environmental legislation body. It means that you don't have to worry – the product works.
Who owns Wonderbag carbon credits?
Each Wonderbag saves approximately 0.5 tonnes of carbon per year if it is used 3 or 4 times a week. These savings translate into carbon credits which belong to Natural Balance and are traded on our behalf on the European Carbon Exchange.
Corporate partners can take credit for reducing carbon
Companies that invest in Wonderbag do not receive carbon credits automatically. Based on UNFCCC certification, or the equally rigorous Gold Standard certification, Wonderbag corporate partners can confidently report that for every Wonderbag in use, the company is directly contributing to saving 0.5 tonnes of carbon per year.
Companies can buy Wonderbag carbon credits on carbon exchanges, or receive discounted prices by advance purchase. Advance purchase arrangements are now on offer.
Carbon trading is the only way in which the Wonderbag project can be sustainable due to the high cost of monitoring and evaluating the use of the bags. For this reason, the credits remain the property of Natural Balance until they are traded on the carbon exchange.
More on carbon credit validation
Carbon credits are only validated once the actual benefit of distribution has been carefully measured and quantified. This means that formal annual surveys of usage rates are undertaken by Natural Balance. With the help of our partners, Microsoft and frog, we have developed a mobile data collection and cloud data storage solution for carbon accounting. Clever mobile technology allows real-time collection of data relating to usage of Wonderbag and Microsoft's cloud computing generates the reports that help us to calculate carbon savings.
Once the work is done, independent auditors certified for this task by the UNFCCC, undertake a "verification" and check that the monitored usage rates are correct. Then the verified usage rate figures are passed to the UNFCCC for a final check.
Carbon credits are good for poor communities too…
Revenue from carbon credits ensures commercial sustainability and it means we can subsidise the price of Wonderbags in developing countries.
