China Charmission Travel Goes Carbon Neutral

Starting in 2019, Charmission Travel, the inbound tour operator based in Beijing and Zhengzhou, will not only offset the carbon emissions from all of the trips they offer in China but also offset the emissions from all their staff’s business trips and the internal office operations. In other words, Charmission Travel will go carbon neutral.

They do this in collaboration with South Pole (www.southpole.com) which has expertise covering all steps linked to the development and the management of carbon credits for emission reduction projects. They cooperate with technology providers and other project developers to identify and manage emission reduction projects that avoid or reduce the release of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere.

South Pole helps Charmission calculate the carbon emissions from their trips and operations and Charmission then chooses to compensate them through investing in some of their projects.

For 2018, the total emissions from Charmission trips were 7999 tonnes. Since three of their outbound partners had compensated the China part which amounted to 3074 tonnes, Charmission offset the remaining 4925 tonnes of CO2.

Which project do they support?

They support Huo ShuiGrouped Hydropower, China. It meets the following standards:

• VCS: Verified Carbon Standard now called Verra. Quality standard developed by the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA), the Climate Group (TCG), the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the World Economic Forum, governed by the VCS Steering Committee.
• SC: Social Carbon Standard. Additional quality label on top of VCS, which certifies that the project simultaneously addresses climate change, supports local communities and smallholders and conserves biodiversity.

This project consists of multiple small-scale hydropower plants that generate renewable energy for rural South West China. By supplying clean hydroelectric power to the local grid, the project displaces greenhouse gas emissions, helping mitigate climate change and improving the lives of local people.

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