Beyond logistics - introducing BVCM

In carbon offset-crediting programs and the Paris Agreement, it refers to the inadvertent duplication of emission reductions. Ensuring accuracy of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions data by preventing underestimation through double counting is crucial. Mitigation activities should only contribute once toward achieving targets.

Compensating harmful ecological and climate impacts with additional benefits for nature or carbon sequestration is the focus. UN Sustainable Development Goals highlight sustainable management of marine ecosystems and integration of biodiversity values into planning.

Accurate representation of GHG emission reductions through Verified Carbon Mechanism activities is essential. Mitigation activities should avoid locking in levels of GHG emissions, technologies, or practices incompatible with net-zero goals.

Durability emphasizes that emission reductions must be permanent for sustained environmental impact. Long-lived storage, essential for carbon offsetting projects, involves low-risk methods lasting centuries to millennia.

GHG emission reductions from mitigation activities must be enduring. Measures are required to address risks of reversal.

Occurs when businesses relocate production to countries with lax emission constraints, potentially increasing total emissions. Mitigation involves leakage assessments to identify inconsistencies in processes and applications.

Mitigation activities in carbon-crediting programs should conform or exceed established best practices, delivering positive sustainable development impacts.

Comprehensive, transparent information on credited mitigation activities publicly accessible for scrutiny is essential.

Carbon credits must provide an 'additional' benefit beyond business as usual to meet net-zero objectives. Proof requires credible baselines and adherence to guidelines, such as Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism.

The report is crucial for uniquely identifying and tracking each credit, involving independent third-party verification of emissions reductions, and ensuring credibility through validation and verification processes.

For our portfolio we focus on tech based solutions.

• Renewable energy
  Renewable energy projects promote a shift from fossil fuels to green energy through hydropower, wind power, solar panels or biomass projects. The promotion of renewable energy creates a transition from fossil fuels, which stimulates long-term reduction of CO₂ emissions and a climate-friendly economy by lowering prices for renewable energy. This positively affects the Groups goal to increase its share of green electricity.
  Often, the projects are established in rural areas, positively affecting local employment and energy supply. This also leads to social benefits, one of the pillars of sustainable development.
  
• Waste disposal
  Focusing on the efficiency of capturing emissions during biological processes regarding organic waste. Instead of releasing the byproducts of degradation into the atmosphere, they are contained and used to produce energy. Thus, waste disposal projects do not only reduce the emission of greenhouse gases but also produce renewable energy.
  
• Household devices
  Distributing cleaner-burning stoves or water purification devices to reduce or eliminate the need to burn wood. In addition to the environmental benefits of emission reduction, eliminating the need to collect vast amounts of wood on a daily basis also brings social benefits by improving the quality of life of local people. These projects are usually rather small scale, but have a massive effect on a local scale, changing the daily routines of the people using the devices.
  DHL Group is the primary sponsor of the Save80 project in Lesotho, making this project a cornerstone of the GoGreen offsetting activities.
• Energy efficiency
  Energy efficiency is targeting consumption reduction. The scope of the projects is large, ranging from household products to large industrial installations. However, it does not achieve long-term reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, hence the permanence factor is lower.
  In comparison to projects focusing on household devices these types of projects are usually less potent, although their size might be significantly bigger.

As small projects tend to have a greater positive impact on the local society, we prefer the purchasing of small scale projects.  However, large scale projects are eligible for the portfolio, as our demand is usually too high to be settled with microscale projects alone. 

Overall, a diverse project and location portfolio is paramount. In accordance to the Kyoto Protocol, we try to concentrate our purchasing activities on areas where they can show the most positive side effects. In consequence, we do not buy certificates from projects located in highly developed countries. In particular, no credits shall be obtained from projects located in the EU, Northern America and Australia. Instead, the developing countries in Asia, Africa and Central- and South-America shall be preferred. Among these, countries ranking higher in the list of poor countries according to IMF or World Bank should be preferred. 

Carbon credits are emitted on a yearly basis. The year of issuance is called the "vintage" of the credit. Younger vintages are preferred over older ones as they are a more appropriate reflection of the current state of the art regarding both regulations and technology. In consequence, we try to avoid very old vintages (5 years or older).