Why invest in carbon offsets? The obvious answer is to meet your greenhouse gas emission targets and play your part in preventing climate change.
But a great carbon offset program delivers benefits that boost your business in other ways, too. How could offsetting improve staff and community engagement, increase your market differentiation and help you win new business?
Which Offset Programs Offer Marketable Benefits?
When selecting a carbon offset project or provider, there are two key factors to consider that will ensure your actions are marketable and maximize your PR benefits:
- Will the project/provider deliver genuine carbon savings?
- What additional benefits might there be and how can you market them?
The first should be non-negotiable; read our articles on validation and verification for more information on how to choose reliable carbon offsets.
Identifying the additional benefits is less straightforward; what you perceive as a benefit depends on your corporate goals and motivations, and how relevant the project is to your organization.
Furthermore, it can be tricky to measure specific, tangible benefits resulting from improved reputation or brand image, so it’s important to design marketing communications, employee feedback and customer perception monitoring to capture the full value of your investment.
Choosing The Right Offset Project
If you’re considering carbon offsets, you probably already have a robust carbon management strategy and a track record of internal project implementation and improved efficiency to minimize your greenhouse gas footprint.
But your wider sustainability strategy can also benefit from offset projects that demonstrate your commitment to managing your environmental impact and supporting communities.
Some of the typical co-benefits that progressive offset projects can deliver include:
- Improved air and/or water quality
- Improved public health
- Lower costs for local households
- Ecosystem benefits and biodiversity
- Local employment creation
- Technology transfer and capacity building
Behind each of these benefits lie the stories of the individuals and families whose lives are improved; the best marketing communication focuses on those individual stories and how they align with your organization and its stakeholders.
Great examples include children, freed from the task of collecting water and firewood, able to attend school and benefit from education; farmers able to support their families with improved yields due to better land management and sustainable farming practices; or the reintroduction of a locally-extinct species due to ecosystem improvement and education of local communities.
Positive media coverage of such stories can increase your brand recognition and build a favorable public perception.
Beyond Perception: Tangible Benefits of Offsetting
Media coverage can quickly turn into increased sales when your marketing message resonates strongly with customers; especially for premium-priced, green or eco products and services. Such synergies can quickly create loyal brand advocates.
Employees can also be highly motivated by knowing that their employer supports a worthwhile offset project that mirrors their own values. Increased employee engagement and satisfaction levels can be seen through staff surveys, internet activity or event participation.
Increasingly, project tenders ask for evidence of the bidder’s commitment to carbon reduction or even explicitly require an offsetting plan. A track record of carbon offsetting can put your business in a winning position from the outset.
NativeEnergy Helps You Make The Difference
Of course, it’s important to remember that offsetting is, first and foremost, about reducing your emissions. NativeEnergy’s offsets are always fully verified by an accredited third party, so the carbon reductions are guaranteed, genuine and permanent.
Additionally, NativeEnergy’s progressive offset projects deliver a range of environmental and sustainable development benefits that can help you establish a unique corporate identity, setting you apart from your competitors.
To find out how to get the most from your offsetting actions in terms of support, results and marketability, contact us now.