Glossary

What Are Sustainable Development Goals and How Can You Assess Their Impact?

What Are Sustainable Development Goals and How Can You Assess Their Impact?

What Are Sustainable Development Goals and How Can You Assess Their Impact?


by: Stephanie Hefelfinger and Rebecca Stoops | January 19, 2022

The WaY Project - Women with health insurance

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a popular topic worldwide, and you’ve probably seen organizations displaying their SDG contributions with these colorful icons. How are they justifying their SDG claims? How can you feel confident when purchasing credits, and what are the levels of assurance for SDG claims? What tools do professionals use to analyze their projects? 

What are SDGs?

The SDGs are 17 key issues that projects, businesses, and governments must target to improve the world by 2030. They were created by the United Nations (UN) Development Program and include targets like No Poverty, Responsible Consumption and Production, and Clean Water and Sanitation.  

Sustainable Development Goals - SDGs interconnect together

This diagram shows how all SDGs are interlinked and depend on each other. Image source: How food connects all the SDGs – Stockholm Resilience Centre 

Case Study of The WaY Project and Available SDG Tools 

In the voluntary credit market, plastic credits have been established to represent 1 metric ton of plastic waste collected from the environment. Projects like this can also offer other benefits that improve the community’s well-being and the environment – these benefits can align with the Sustainable Development Goals. 

The WaY (Women and Youth) plastic collection project in Cote d’Ivoire, developed by Conceptos Plásticos, collects plastic waste that would have otherwise been left in the environment. The plastic is turned into construction bricks, which are used to build schools for local communities. The project focuses on hiring women to increase empowerment and economic opportunities for a heavily underserved population. ClimeCo is partnering with the WaY Project to generate plastic credits from its plastic collection activities.  

It is essential for an organization to provide a good faith effort when presenting their SDG impact claims. When purchasing credits from a project with these claims, we highly recommend that you contact them and ask what steps they took to assess their SDG impact. To help you with this, let us walk you through the public SDG tools we used to determine our project’s biggest SDG benefits.  

The Tools

The SDG Impact Assessment Manager Tool is a free resource developed by the UN Global Compact and B Lab. The SDG Impact Assessment Manager Tool measures a project’s current impact and helps identify which SDGs have the greatest opportunity for improvement, with straightforward suggestions for actual changes. Think of this as an SDG personality quiz for a project.   

This is an example of a question from SDG 10 – Reduced Inequalities, as well as SDG 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth: 

SDG Impact Assessment Question Example

The SDG Compass was developed by the UN Global Compact, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Since the UN developed the SDGs at an international and country level, it can be hard to understand how they relate to smallerscale projects. This tool translates each SDG and all the targets into manageable and realistic goals that a project can achieve. The SDG Compass recommends prioritizing SDGs that could potentially affect human rights.  

The Outcome of Our Efforts 

We started with the SDG Impact Assessment Manager ToolThis requires the completion of 15-30 questions for each SDG, which usually takes a few hours to completeThe higher the score percentage (see below), the higher the impact on the goal. While The WaY Project has a positive effect on many SDGs, the results of this tool demonstrate that the largest impact is on SDGs 1, 4, 5, 9, and 10.  

The WaY Project's SDGs Impact Assessment

Next, we used the SDG Compass to study each SDG in greater detailThis explains how our project intends to actively meet the relevant SDGs. 

SDG Compass - How our project intends to actively meet the relevant SDGs.

Next, we created a diagram to see what parts of our project are directly quantifiable and measurable. All impacts are important, but its easier to prove and certify measurable impacts. Gold Standard recommends this step through their tool.

Gold Standard Tool - prove and certify quantifiable and measurable impacts.

Leveraging all three tools, we can see where our project has the biggest impactWe’ve also determined where we can improve. For example, The WaY project should continue encouraging women to use the provided Proper Protective Equipment (PPE) and work with the women to choose improved PPE offerings that fit their cultural attire 

Côte d'Ivoire - The WaY Project

Conclusion 

For those who want greater assurance on SDG claims, there are several credit registries that offer credits with SDG impacts that a 3rd party has verified – Gold Standardthe American Carbon Registrythe Climate Action Reserve, and Verra. At ClimeCo, we want clients to feel confident in our projects and their SDG claimsWe are here to educate and be a resource for understanding SDG claims, finding the right projects for clients’ ESG goals, and helping new projects develop their SDG claims. Feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions; we are happy to help.

ClimeCo - SDGs certified under Gold Standard

This is an example of certified SDGs from a project listed under Gold Standard’s registry. 


About the Author

Rebecca Stoops is a Project Manager at ClimeCo, focusing on plastic credit projects and refrigerant projects for carbon credits. She enjoys hiking, the great outdoors, and cleaning up nature by picking up trash. Stephanie Hefelfinger is a Project Associate at ClimeCo, focusing on plastic credit projects and livestock and composting projects for carbon credits. She enjoys hunting for pretty rocksThey both enjoy getting into the nittygritty details of projects to learn how they operate and their positive impacts on the environment. 

ClimeCo a Top-Level Sponsor at North American Carbon World (NACW) Virtual Conference

ClimeCo a Top-Level Sponsor at North American Carbon World (NACW) Virtual Conference

ClimeCo a Top-Level Sponsor at North American Carbon World (NACW) Virtual Conference

ClimeCo is passionate about making the world a better place. We are a proud sponsor of the 2021 North American Carbon World (NACW) Conference and are ready to help you reach your net-zero goals.  Watch our NACW video below to learn more. 

 

ClimeCo is honored to be a Platinum Sponsor of the 2021 NACW Virtual Conference! This year’s conference will explore the progress of climate policy, carbon markets, climate finance, and natural climate solutions in North America.

ClimeCo will also be participating in two sessions during the conference. Our Chief Business Officer, Derek Six, will be speaking at the “Building a Larger Carbon Credit Market from Within” plenary session on April 27 at 10:30 AM PST, and our Program Development Director, Lauren Mechak, will be speaking on the “Opportunities to Expand Climate Mitigation Via New Offset Protocols” panel on April 28 at 11 AM PST.

About ClimeCo 

ClimeCo is a respected advisor, transaction facilitator, and trader of environmental commodity market products and related services. We specialize in voluntary carbon, regulated carbon, renewable energy credits, plastics credits, and regional criteria pollutant trading programs.  Complimenting these programs is a team of professionals skilled in providing sustainability program management services, and developing and financing of GHG abatement and mitigation systems.

For more information or to discuss how ClimeCo can drive value for your organization, contact us at 484.415.0501, info@climeco.com, or through our website climeco.com. Be sure to follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter using our handle, @ClimeCo.

ClimeCo Enters Strategic Partnership with Restore the Earth Foundation

ClimeCo Enters Strategic Partnership with Restore the Earth Foundation

PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION
FOR QUESTIONS CONTACT
Nancy Fuchs Marshall, Corporate Marketing Director
nmarshall@climeco.com or 484.415.7603

ClimeCo Enters Strategic Partnership with Restore the Earth Foundation


 

April 7th, 2020 (Boyertown, PA) – ClimeCo, a leader in the development and management of environmental commodities, is pleased to announce the formation of a strategic partnership with Restore the Earth Foundation, Inc. (Restore the Earth), a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization whose mission is to advance landscape-scale reforestation in the Mississippi River Basin, “North America’s Amazon.”  Born out of disaster from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Restore the Earth has secured funding to reforest over 60,000 acres along the Gulf Coast. Their present focus is restoring a million acres in the Basin, the most ecologically degraded area in the US.

“We are confident that with ClimeCo as a partner, we will assure the successful completion of this critical reforestation,” stated PJ Marshall, Founder & Executive Director of Restore the Earth.  “Once completed, 100 million trees will be planted, 200,000,000 MT of CO2e will be sequestered and over $12 billion in economic value will be generated.  Restoration at this landscape-scale ensures that biodiversity, habitats, and communities are enhanced and supported in self-sustaining systems.”

To help fund this initiative, Restore the Earth pioneered the development of the Climate Action Reserve’s Climate Forward Reforestation methodology.  The Climate Forward program is designed to accelerate action on climate change by encouraging companies and organizations to proactively invest today in projects that mitigate future greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.  Restore the Earth’s initial project will reforest more than 5,000 acres of the historic bald cypress forest at the Pointe-aux-Chenes Wildlife Management Area in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, which is anticipated to sequester more than 1,000,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.  The Climate Forward program provides a mechanism for Restore the Earth to quantify, verify, and register forecasted mitigation units (FMUs), which ClimeCo will market to voluntary buyers to help fund future reforestation efforts in the Basin.

“We are so excited to launch this partnership with Restore the Earth on what I view as the most significant reforestation program in North America, if not globally,” says William Flederbach, President of ClimeCo.  “The reforestation of North America’s Amazon is so critical to combatting climate change and provides so many additional environmental and social benefits to the region and nation.  Using the Climate Action Reserve’s Climate Forward Program is not only the best way to promote well-needed investments but is the perfect environmental instrument to align future reductions with an organization’s projected emissions.”

For more information or to discuss how ClimeCo can drive value for your organization, contact us at 484.415.0501, info@climeco.com or through our website www.climeco.com.

       *The area in blue is the Lower Mississippi River Basin where our work to restore 1M acres is focused

ClimeCo Corporation is a respected project developer, advisor and trader of environmental commodity market products. Specialized expertise in California cap‐and‐trade, voluntary markets and project development, and financing of internal CO2 abatement systems complement ClimeCo’s diverse commodity portfolio. Within the Climate Action Reserve, ClimeCo is the largest developer of U.S. GHG‐offset projects and producer of U.S. voluntary carbon offsets, managing projects that reduce more than four million tonnes of CO2e per year. For info, contact 484‐415-0501, nmarshall@climeco.com or dpingitore@climeco.com.

Making Connections that Create Environmental Balance

Making Connections that Create Environmental Balance

Making Connections that Create Environmental Balance

Our planet is a world of give and take to find environmental balance.  If you cut down a tree, plant two new ones.  If your production process emits greenhouse gases, consider voluntarily reducing them or investing in carbon offset projects.  If you travel for business, consider purchasing carbon offsets that make your carbon footprint neutral.  At ClimeCo, we love helping companies, manufacturers, industry sectors and even rock bands come together to support each other to find that environmental balance.  Currently, we are working to connect an industry we have supported since day one and a state that started it all with Cap and Trade.

Supporting a Big Industry

Did you know that agriculture is California’s number one industry, which brings billions of dollars into the state?  From grapes grown in Napa Valley to almonds in Sacramento Valley, California farmers feed 13% of the US population.  California has almost 80,000 farms that produce more than 400 commodities.  They are the leading state in cash farm receipts and a quarter of what they produce is exported around the world.  (Statistics from www.cdfa.ca.gov.)

In order to maintain this level of agricultural production, fertilizer is necessary to replenish the nutrients that are lost with each harvest.  California farms use more than a million tons of fertilizer per year to feed their crops to support an abundant harvest.  Fertilizers used in agriculture include nitrogen, phosphorus, and potash.  There are fifteen states in the U.S. that contain nitrogen fertilizer production facilities, yet there are none presently in California, so the state must import fertilizer in order to support its major agricultural sector. All nitrogen fertilizers start from the processing of natural gas and other carbon-based fuels.  The natural gas is transformed into ammonia and then into other nitrogen-based fertilizer products.  That correlates to over two million metric tonnes per year (tpy) of CO2e emissions that are generated by the manufacturing and transportation of fertilizer to California, which the state has a responsibility to mitigate.  This can easily be accomplished by supporting fertilizer-based N2O reduction projects located here in the U.S. 


Greening Up Fertilizer

Nitrous oxide, which is 298 times more potent than carbon dioxide from a global warming potential, is formed from the processing of Nitric Acid, which is the main feedstock for ammonium nitrate, a critical nitrogen-based fertilizer.  To address this, over 10 years ago, the Climate Action Reserve (CAR) adopted the Nitric Acid Protocol, the only fertilizer manufacturing GHG abatement protocol in use in the United States, with significant input from ClimeCo, who served on the Working Group.  We wanted to make a difference and a positive impact on the fertilizer sector by creating scalable greenhouse gas abatement projects.  There are many fertilizer producers who trusted ClimeCo when we had no real track record, and because of our passion and drive, we were able to partner with them to generate great success. These partnerships still exist and have only expanded over time. 


Connecting the Dots


Through the purchase of carbon offsets from fertilizer manufacturing, your company can help green the agricultural supply chain in California.  To date, ClimeCo has developed 100% of North American-based voluntary nitric acid carbon offset projects, representing approximately 15 million tonnes of CO2e abated from this sector, with additional projects currently being installed.

We encourage you to communicate this to your stakeholders or the agencies overseeing your CEQA case file.  ClimeCo is happy to help supply information to assist you with your efforts.  There are insufficient California-based voluntary offsets to meet the current California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) demand and IT IS stalling economic growth in CA.  These projects should be considered equivalent to in-state reductions for all purposes, including those under CEQA.

About the Authors

William “Bill” Flederbach cofounded ClimeCo in 2009 and has grown the business rapidly over the last 10 years.  Before starting ClimeCo, Bill managed air quality at O’Brien and Gere (OBG), worked and managed the international carbon markets at MGM International and AgCert.  He is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University and Smeal College.

Nancy Fuchs Marshall has worked in the environmental engineering market for over 14 years and in the marketing field for 23 years.  Prior to joining ClimeCo, she fostered air, solid waste, wastewater and remediation projects for RMT (now TRC) and Sage Environmental (now ATC) and helped them increase their marketing and business development in the Southeast.  Nancy is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame of Maryland.

ClimeCo is Selected as Project Developer of the Year

ClimeCo is Selected as Project Developer of the Year

NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION
Nancy Marshall, Marketing Director
864-266-1210 or nmarshall@climeco.com

ClimeCo is Selected as Project Developer of the Year

 

ClimeCo Corporation (ClimeCo) is pleased to announce its selection as Project Developer of the Year by the Climate Action Reserve (CAR), in recognition for the Most Registered Carbon Offset Projects in 2018.

CAR, North America’s premier carbon offset registry, presented the award to ClimeCo Corporation during CAR’s North American Carbon World (NACW) 2019 annual conference, which is currently being held in Los Angeles, CA, through April 26.  Award recipients are nominated based upon their demonstration of leadership in advancing climate solutions and strengthening carbon markets through the development of successful carbon offset projects that achieve real, quantifiable, verifiable, additional, and permanent emissions reductions.

“ClimeCo is celebrating ten years in business this year and to receive an award like this from CAR is a great gift,” said Bill Flederbach, President & CEO of ClimeCo.  “I am very proud of the team we have built over the last 10 years, our culture, our clients, the incredible volumes of greenhouse gases that we’ve reduced, and us being the leading producer of carbon credits within CAR.”

ClimeCo has worked with CAR for the past 10 years and has registered more than 16 million carbon offsets.  Their offset volume stems from reducing greenhouse gas emissions through several project types, including N2O Abatement, Destruction of Ozone Depleting Substances, Agricultural Methane Capture, and Organic Waste Composting.  It is the combination of their clients, their diversification, and the dedication of their project team that has allowed them to be the leader in carbon offset project development.

“CAR has been a tremendous partner for ClimeCo over the years,” said Derek Six, Chief Business Officer of ClimeCo.  “Their dedication to creating high-quality protocols and ensuring a crediting program of the utmost integrity aligns well with ClimeCo’s core values.  We are proud to be implementing creative and innovative emission reduction projects, and very much appreciate this recognition for our efforts.”

ClimeCo is an advisor, broker, and developer of both voluntary and compliance grade environmental commodity market products, with specialized expertise in California cap-and-trade, market advisory, transactional services, and project financing.

To learn more about ClimeCo, how you can be a part of this growing business or how your company can benefit, visit us at www.climeco.com or contact us here.

ClimeCo Corporation is a respected project developer, advisor and trader of environmental commodity market products. Specialized expertise in regional criteria pollutant trading programs, California cap‐and‐trade, voluntary markets and project development and financing of internal CO2 abatement systems complement ClimeCo’s diverse commodity portfolio. Within the Climate Action Reserve, ClimeCo is the largest developer of U.S. GHG‐offset projects and producer of U.S. voluntary carbon offsets, managing projects that reduce more than four million tonnes of CO2e per year. For info, contact 484‐415-0501, nmarshall@climeco.com or dpingitore@climeco.com.