What is a Carbon Offset?
A carbon offset is a way to compensate for your emissions by funding an equivalent carbon savings elsewhere. Everyday actions such as heating your home, driving a car or flying on a plane consume energy and produce carbon emissions. Carbon offsetting is used to balance out these emissions by paying for carbon savings elsewhere.
Why offset carbon?
Carbon offsetting can help to mitigate your carbon footprint through funding solutions that reduce carbon emissions. Usually, carbon offsetting reduces emissions much quicker than an individual can on their own. Carbon offset projects help to mitigate climate change as well as care for local communities. Many of these projects create employment, improve health and support biodiversity.
Percy Kantunda’s LP 190, Likonde village, Domasi, Zomba, Malawi. June 24, 2021
How does SolarAid offset carbon?
SolarAid is an international charity founded in 2006 to combat poverty and climate change. Through our social enterprise, SunnyMoney, we provide access to solar lights in Malawi and Zambia to help catalyse solar markets with renewable light while mitigating the effects of climate change.
Every solar light distributed by SolarAid eradicates one kerosene lamp which will, over the course of three years, avert an entire tonne of CO2. That’s more than a return flight from London to Istanbul.
Find out more about our calculations here.
