Carbon dioxide is responsible for 60% of the greenhouse effect and burning fossil fuels releases the carbon dioxide stored millions of years ago. Deforestation releases not only the carbon store in trees but means that less carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere, creating a vicious circle.
Trees help combat the changes by `breathing in' carbon dioxide in a process called photosynthesis, and `breathing out' oxygen. The more trees we have, the more carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere, and the more we help to combat the change by compensating for the carbon dioxide we produce. This is called `carbon offsetting'.
Carbon offsetting schemes do have a role to play but remember there is no magic way to buy ourselves out of climate change. Ultimately there is no solution to climate change other than to emit less pollution, which means adopting greener lifestyles. See our green tips section.
The World Land Trust is an international conservation charity based in Halesworth, a rural town in Suffolk, UK. Since its foundation in 1989 as the World Wide Land Conservation Trust, the World Land Trust has been working to preserve the world's most biologically important and threatened lands, and has helped purchase and protect over 350,000 acres of habitats rich in wildlife, in Belize, Costa Rica, India, the Philippines, South America and the UK.
Carbon Passport helps individuals and businesses easily and affordably offset their carbon emissions using Kyoto compliant carbon credits. Carbon Passport is a UK company specializing in providing credits that derive from the Clean Development Mechanism which was established under the Kyoto Treaty. www.carbonpassport.com/
Carbon Capital Markets® is a specialist trader and fund manager in the carbon and clean energy markets. They are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. They sell issued Certified Emission Reductions (CERs),
Kyoto compliant credits generated from United Nations approved projects. CERs are independently verified as additional, permanent and not double counted, so you can be confident your purchase really makes a difference on the ground. www.carboncapitalmarkets.com/
Erasemyfootprint.com is dedicated to the establishment of Forestry in the South West Forest area of Devon and Cornwall. Their focus is on creating woodland, which not only sequesters carbon on their client's behalf but also is sympathetic to wildlife and enhances the landscapes visual impact and the local economy. www.erasemyfootprint.com/
TreeTwist exists to make it easy and fun for you to plant a tree and make a positive contribution towards our environment. www.treetwist.co.uk/
co2balance.com can help you minimise your carbon emissions and offset the unavoidable residue. Offsetting works by investing funds in sequestration or energy efficiency projects that absorb or prevent the release of a tonnage of CO2 equivalent to your carbon footprint. www.co2balance.uk.com/
On average, one tree produces about 120 kilogrammes of oxygen per year. The Oxygen Shop plants the trees that you buy to form new woodland in the fight against global warming. www.oxygenshop.net/
