Internews' Earth Journalism Awards (EJA) will honor the best reports on climate change in the lead up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) in Copenhagen. The 14 award winners will be invited to attend the two-week conference, where they will have the opportunity to cover the negotiations, and receive their awards during a high-profile ceremony, on December 14, 2009.

Many of the winners will be from the Global South, and will travel to the conference by airplane, as it is impractical for them to travel by land and sea. We realise that airtravel is carbon intensive, but view it as a necessary investment in order for these journalists to produce reports about this historic event for their audiences back home - an audience that is already feeling the effects of climate change.

However, we still believe in reducing our carbon emissions as much as we can. As the UNEP report 'Kick the Habit: A UN Guide to Climate Neutrality' states:

"The most desirable way of reducing emissions will in most cases be just that - to reduce emissions. This should always be the first step: Reduce as much as you can. But if you concede that the best is sometimes not a choice at all, for financial or other good reasons, then: Offset the remainder."

Choosing a carbon offset provider

To select an adequate carbon offset provider, we consulted 'Evaluations and Recommendations of Voluntary Offset Companies', a widely cited report by the Tufts Climate Initiative. Five of the fourteen investigated providers are recommended, but we narrowed our options down to three, selecting only providers that list the percentage of money for offsets that actually goes to projects and received 'excellent' or 'very good' ratings for the accuracy of their emissions calculator.

This left us with the following possible providers:

 We contacted all three organizations by email, asking them how the money for offsets is allocated to their different projects. We received the following replies:

-    Atmosfair:    "The emissions saving projects are only financed by donations. The donations are collected by atmosfair and are allocated according to the financial needs of the projects. Some projects are more expensive, some less. When a project is set up, it also needs more financial support than in a further stage. Generally 90 percent of the revenue goes toward climate protection projects; only 10 percent are used for stuff, public relations and administration."

-    Myclimate:    "Usually the money goes to the "myclimate Gold Standard portfolio". This means that the contribution to carbon offsetting goes toward myclimate carbon offset projects in developing countries and emerging markets. All projects reduce emissions by replacing climate-impacting fossil fuels with renewable energy or by promoting energy-efficient technologies. This allows us to invest the money in those projects which use it most. myclimate offers its customers the possibility to invest the money only in one project, but only if the amount of offsets exceeds 100 tons. For smaller amounts the administrative costs are too high to guarantee that at least 80% of the money goes to the project."

-    We did not receive a reply from Climate Friendly.

As we want to offset the carbon emissions of the Earth Journalism Awards ceremony itself as well as the flights to and from Copenhagen and our accommodation during the conference, we have chosen not to use Atmosfair, which only provides offsets for airtravel.

Myclimate does provide emissions calculations and carbon offsets for events and ceremonies. According to their website ):

"The non-profit foundation myclimate - The Climate Protection Partnership is an international climate protection organisation based in Switzerland. myclimate promotes the gathering of knowledge about CO2 reduction, raises awareness and inspires long-term climate protection. The foundation also draws upon various management tools, such as CO2 balance sheets, CO2 reporting or a performance-management tool, to provide an optimal basis for decision-making in businesses. In addition, myclimate promotes carbon neutrality via the principle of voluntary CO2 offsetting."

Calculating carbon offsets with myclimate emissions calculator

For the Earth Journalism Awards ceremony, we are expecting approximately 300 people to attend the event itself and a reception that will follow. We are not sure about the total and type of power consumption at present and hope to have an estimate at a later date.

The estimate for the reception drinks will be to offer the guests 2 to 3 drinks each.

The Myclimate emissions calculator advises 1kg waste per person if the amount of rubbish is unknown.

The dinner that will follow the reception will be attended by around 40 of the 300 people at the ceremony. We hope to ensure that the meals will be made with seasonal and regional products, and 30% of them will be vegetarian. There will be 3 to 4 drinks per person.

 During the two weeks of the conference we will provide accomodation for 27 people, but not all of them will stay for the entire conference.

We estimate that there will be a total of 325 stays in a 3 star hotel.

There will be approximately 7 short distance flights from European countries to Copenhagen and 21 long distance flights from other continents.

 The combined price for all the components we will offset is:

Purchasing offsets

We will offset our emissions with myclimate's Gold Standard portfolio:

 "Your contribution to carbon offsetting goes toward myclimate carbon offset projects in developing countries and emerging markets. All projects reduce emissions by replacing climate-impacting fossil fuels with renewable energy or by promoting energy-efficient technologies. For example, you support the local production, distribution and use of solar cookers and efficient cookers in south-west Madagascar."

For more enquires in regards to this plan please contact:

Agathe Dalisson - Director of the Earth Journalism Awards - agathe@internews.fr