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Philosophy
- In a small-scale, distributed and local way
- Durably and in surplus, aiming to stock 2-3 times the desired amount in order to create a security buffer and effectively guarantee the desired amount of carbon is stored long-term.
- In synergy with other beneficial natural processes: not just taking a singular aim to fix carbon, but also pursuing other important ecosystem needs, such as enriching degraded soils, bringing water to the surface, producing food, providing shade, etc.
- By creating conditions conducive to life and prioritising resilience: by reinforcing a wide range of natural processes the health of local flora and fauna (including humans) will be supported, enabling greater biodiversity and ecosystem resilience.
Our Compensation Approach
Why Choose our Programme?
- Oxalogenesis, storing carbon in stone: we are the first and undoubtedly the only organisation to focus on planting oxalogenous trees and to carry out applied research on these species. Since oxalogenous trees have the capacity to transform carbon into limestone and store it in the soil surrounding their root systems for tens of thousands of years, they are a particularly important species from a carbon capture standpoint.
- Human mutual aid: We are a small structure with whom you can establish a bond of trust and be sure that our tree planting campaigns are carried out with care and with continued monitoring. We do not take a “big machine” approach, promising big returns, but ultimately disconnected from the life of the trees and the people who plant them. Instead, we place the human connection very high on our list of priorities, because we know that strong relationships and mutual aid are essential for developing meaningful outcomes.
- Biomimicry and a living systems approach: Forest Commons was born under the umbrella of its parent organisation, Biomimicry Europa, and remains committed to its central tenant of biomimicry to help regenerate the planet taking a systems approach, drawing inspiration from the complexity and genius of the living world, and aiming for long-term holistic sustainability.
Ensuring Carefully Examined Carbon Offset Calculations:
- Above all, trees for life: We choose to place the emphasis not on carbon offsetting per se, but rather on reforestation on a human scale, working with and to the benefit of small local farmers and families. Our carbon offsetting programme therefore serves more as a thoughtful “collateral benefit” to this overarching objective.
- Small-scale programme with action almost exclusively in the field: Our organisation employs only 2 part-time international coordinators overseeing the work of our colleagues on the ground in Haiti, India and Mexico. As we do not have offices, vehicles or other significant overhead, the majority of our funds goes directly to project implementation, such as creating and maintaining nurseries, supporting our local community partners, running capacity-building workshops, and of course planting trees! In light of our small size, we do not currently have the means to certify our carbon compensation to international standards, which prove to be complex and costly as they are normally designed for massive reforestation projects that have the capacity to plant large numbers of trees, but that are normally less attentive to the needs and involvements of local populations.
- Our compensation model is designed to be “between friends”, based on trust: Rather than concentrate on large-scale carbon offsetting reforestation schemes, we prefer to favour relationships with individuals and small organisations whose approach and vision align with our own, and with whom we can preferentially engage in meaningful exchanges and long-term partnerships.
- Being a non-profit organisation born from the concept of biomimicry, our carbon offsetting calculations are similarly inspired by nature: Our carbon offset price equations factor in a “natural” security buffer, meaning that the number of trees we plant overestimates the potential risks to long-term survival, thereby ensuring the end result achieves the targeted amount (and most likely more) of carbon sequestration. In other words, we aim for a resilient, robust and generous model: like nature!
- We therefore first evaluated current prices and practices, as well as the often unsaid presuppositions, in order to create informed and cautious calculations to guide our own carbon sequestration model.
Tree Survival Rate: A Key Consideration
We see oxalogenesis as an important plus in carbon offsetting, but this process is dependent on a trees’ ability to mature. The most important consideration, therefore, is to store carbon in the form of living wood. It is also important to plant in areas in need of reforestation and where trees can be sustained over the long-term, but where they would have difficulty growing without our initial intervention.
The long-term survival rate of trees, and therefore the time over which carbon sequestration is calculated, is the crucial parameter in estimating how many trees must be planted in order to effectively store at least one tonne of CO2.
The highest existing standard, the Gold Standard, places this equation at 50 years (How is the carbon stored in forest measured?). As Forest Commons’ oldest trees are only 9 years old, we cannot yet verify their survival rate at 50 years. Our sequestration calculation is therefore based on an estimate of tree survival rate based on our monitoring thus far, the average survival rate of other reputable carbon compensation programmes and the factoring in of additional safety margins to ensure the desired amount is indeed sequestered long-term.
For example, a randomised monitoring visit in 2013 to more than 100 tree beneficiaries across Haiti to survey tree survival after 1-2 years, revealed an average survival rate of 67% (the first few years are normally the most risky for trees).
In reviewing other programmes, we see a minimum survival rate of 20% at 40 years and a maximum of 59% at 10 years, and many programmes do not even explicitly mention survival rate (see details in Table 3 below).
We have therefore chosen to base our calculations off of a very conservative estimate of 10% survival rate at 50 years, which is certainly well below our reality, but which essentially guarantees that the desired tonnes of CO2 will indeed be effectively sequestered.
Our Offsetting Proposal:
Our calculations are explained in more detail below and in comparison to other existing benchmark programmes outlined in Tables 1 to 3:
- We set the price per tonne of Carbon at 20€, which is in the upper-average of carbon compensation by trees (Tab.3), but at the bottom of the range of compensation organisations at the French or global level (Tab.1)
- We evaluate storage at 750kg/50 years (i.e. 15kg/year), which is at the lower end of benchmark estimates.
- We conservatively estimate a minimum survival rate of 10% survival at 50 years, which is well below most estimates (Tab. 3). And we include an additional security: if 2 trees out of 20 originally planted survive up to 50 years, they should store an average of 1.5t of carbon, translating to an excess of 50% over the targeted amount. This conservative calculation therefore gives a double security – a survival rate evaluated well below what is more likely the reality matched with a significant excess of carbon stored long-term.
Comparative Tables
Table 1 : Price per tonne of Carbon in recent years calculated by certain key initiatives and organisations
| Organisations | Price € /teqCO2 | Date | Comments | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Development Initiative – partner of the Renewable Energy, Environment and Solidarity Group (GERES) | 20€ | 2019 | This is a very rigorous cost calculation, which was created following extensive surveys carried out by trained teams and in accordance with methods recognised by the Gold Standard and the CCNUC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change). Specialised experts within the RE division were responsible for these calculations, which were then verified by experts outside the Initiative Développement. | http://id-ong.org/calcul-compensation-carbone/calcul-compensation-carbone |
| Forest Commons | 20€ | 2019 | No official certification but a calculation with several built-in safeguards to ensure we sequester at least what we promise, and undoubtedly a lot more. | |
| Geres (Co Solidaire platform, suspended in 2017) | 24€ | 2017 | This tarif is below the price per tonne outlined in the framework of France’s Climate Energy Contribution (30.50€ in 2017). The projects supported by CO₂Solidaire all follow a carbon standard, such as Gold Standard, VCS or UNFCCC (MDP or MOC). They each have a PDD. | https://co2solidaire.org/je-souhaite-compenser/tout-savoir-sur-la-compensation/ |
| European Carbon Market | 20.37€ | 2019 | Launched at 26€ in 2008; historic minimum of 3€ in 2013; 20€ in August 2018. | https://sandbag.org.uk/carbon-price-viewer/ |
| The French Carbon Tax (or Contribution Climat-Énergie) | 44.6€ | 2019 | This price has likely increased in 2020. | Wikipedia https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxe_carbone_en_France |
| The Stern-Stiglitz Commission on Carbon prices – Recommendation to respect the Paris agreement | 40–80 $/tCO2 | 2020 | Estimated to rise to US$50–100/t CO2 in 2030. | https://www.carbonpricingleadership.org/report-of-the-highlevel-commission-on-carbon-prices/ |
| Various programs around the world, evaluated by I4CE / Caisse des Dépôts / AFD | 1-114€ | 2018 | France was at 55€ including tax in 2018 | https://www.i4ce.org/download/comptes-mondiaux-carbone-2018/ |
Table 2 : Price per Tree
| Organisations | Price per tree | Comments | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| OneTreePlanted | 1$ | Multiple projects, but they do not offer many details. | https://onetreeplanted.org |
| Forest Commons | 1 € | See comments in Table 1 above. | |
| Forest and Life / Kinomé | 1.5 – 2.10€ | Priced according to the project. | https://kinome.fr/forestlife/ |
| Reforestaction | 3€ | Includes the monitoring of trees over the course of 5 years. | https://www.reforestaction.com/foire-aux-questions |
| Pur project | 5 – 12€ | 5€/tree oversees, 12€/tree in France. | https://purprojet.shop/fr/home |
| Coeur de Forêt | 15€ | This finances a set of trees that factor into such activities as medicinal plants, organic vegetable gardens, community pharmacies, etc. | https://www.coeurdeforet.com/adopterunarbre |
Table 3 : Number of trees needed to sequester one tonne of CO2
| Organisation | Trees per teqCO2 | CO2/tree | Required time | Comments | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carbonify.com based on Trees for the Future | 5 | 23 kg/yr | 40 yrs | Focus on tropical trees. They estimate that each tree will store about a tonne over 40 years BUT only 20% will survive to 40 years. | http://www.carbonify.com/carbon-calculator.htm |
| Festival 1 million d’arbres after ADEME | 6,67 | 150 kg | 50 yrs following the Gold Standard ? | This very low CO2 / tree estimate factors in tree lifespan and survival rate, and therefore probably starts from the total planted year 0 to which these rates and duration are applied. | https://www.festival1milliondarbres.com/benefices-d-1million-d-arbres/ |
| Reforestaction | 6,67 | 150 kg | 50 yrs following the Gold Standard ? | CO2 labeled Gold Standard: this very low CO2 / tree calculation is based on the ADEME model above, so the same remarks apply. | https://www.reforestaction.com/foire-aux-questions |
| OneTreePlanted | 1 – 45.. ?? | 22 kg/yr | 1 yr | No other info provided, except that this calculation seems to apply to a mature tree over one year. | https://onetreeplanted.org/blogs/news/trees-climate-change-reforestation |
| Forest Commons | 20 | 15 kg/yr | 50 yrs | We are making a deliberately very careful assessment taking into account that it is difficult to “guarantee” the future of a tree Minimum survival rate of our trees at 50 years: 10% 20 trees planted give min. 2 trees x 15 kg x 50 years = 1500 kg CO2 sequestered. | |
| The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | 58 | 17kg/10 yrs | 10 yrs | The calculation is made here only over the first 10 years (= not considering the carbon fixed thereafter) For young urban trees, conifer / deciduous mix Planted at one year and 59% surviving at the end of 10 years. | https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gases-equivalencies-calculator-calculations-and-references |
| Trees for the Future | 63 | 15 kg/yr | 1 yr | The calculation here seems made to absorb everything in 1 year. 63 trees x 15.7 kg / year = 1000 kg / year. The survival rate does not seem to be taken into account? | https://www.tfaforms.com/4666774 |