Carbon neutral plus

At Childs Farm we actively work with Carbon Footprint Ltd to offset not only our own measured emissions, but to go above and beyond this to provide greater environmental benefits, and we are thrilled to be certified as a Carbon Neutral Plus organisation for the second year running.

Our 2020 measured emissions showed a reduction of 27.1% compared to 2019.

Childs Farm offset its entire 2019 footprint of 539.46 tCO2 by supporting reduced deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest and supporting clean drinking water projects in Cambodia, as well as planting 270 trees in the UK. This is a great achievement, helping to combat climate change and to reach the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, by providing fantastic local socio-economic benefits to communities.

This year we have chosen to offset more than our 2020 measured CO2 emissions of 393.10 tonnes by supporting reduced deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest, an energy conservation cookstove project in Malawi, as well as planting another 200 trees in the UK.

UK tree planting & reduced deforestation and forest degradation in Brazil

This project provides an opportunity to plant trees in the UK whilst also helping to protect the Amazon Rainforest –the largest remaining rainforest in the world. The Amazon is known for its amazing biodiversity; containing 10% of all species, including many endangered species.

For each tCO2e offset, one tree is planted in the UK and an additional tCO2e is offset through the Brazilian Amazon Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) project to guarantee the emission reductions.

UK tree planting & reduced deforestation and forest degradation in Brazil

Planting is a great way to help sequester carbon emissions. Through photosynthesis trees absorb carbon dioxide to produce oxygen and wood. By ensuring that the trees planted are native broad leaf species we can help to preserve the UK's environment and biodiversity. Planting takes place in school locations and other biodiversity sites, bringing further educational and CSR benefits. All trees are high quality cell grown 'whips' (year old saplings).

Typically, we expect that planting 1 tree will absorb 1 tonne of carbon dioxide over its lifetime (40-50 years). As we cannot guarantee this carbon savings, since the growth of the tree depends on many factors (weather, soil etc), the additional support for the reduced deforestation Amazon project in Brazil ensures we are fulfilling our carbon offsetting commitment.

By supporting this programme we are helping to:

Provide wildlife habitats & support biodiversity
Plant native British trees
Enhance the natural UK landscape
Offset CO2 emissions

By supporting this programme we are helping to:

Provide wildlife habitats & support biodiversity
Plant native British trees
Enhance the natural UK landscape
Offset CO2 emissions

African biomass energy conservation in Malawi

The project aims to disseminate over 8,000 improved energy efficient cookstoves to homes in Malawi. The stoves are more efficient and use less wood for household cooking and heating than traditional stoves.

Malawi is classed by the United Nations as a Least Developed Country (LDC). The economy is heavily based on agriculture, and it has a largely rural and rapidly growing population.

The project promotes improved kitchen and firewood management practices e.g. use of less firewood, use of dry firewood, using a pot lid while cooking and soaking legumes before cooking to households in the Northern, Central and Southern Districts of Malawi. The improved technology and practices are intended to replace less efficient technologies and practices and result in biomass conservation and a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere from the burning of solid biomass.

African biomass energy conservation in Malawi

Malawi is classed by the United Nations as a Least Developed Country (LDC). The economy is heavily based on agriculture, and it has a largely rural and rapidly growing population.

Ancillary benefits include reduced smoke during cooking, which reduces exposure to health damaging pollutants and reduced time and effort procuring wood fuel. The stoves are attractive to end-users and can result in quicker cooking times. The stoves are locally made using local materials wherever possible, resulting in local income generation and the acquisition of new skills for local people.

The project targets low-income Malawian households. Almost all firewood users in Malawi (91%) use 3-stone stoves for domestic cooking and heating that are not fuel efficient, produce a lot of smoke and are the source of many injuries and accidents.

It is estimated that less than 0.5% of the population are using any sort of improved biomass stoves, and many households, particularly in rural areas, collect fuel for cooking at little or no financial cost. It is estimated that over 97% of Malawian households use solid fuel as their primary source of energy (87.7% use firewood, 8.9% charcoal and 0.8% crop residue).

The project will result in approximately 10,000 tCO2e emissions being saved per year.

What is a carbon footprint?

Carbon footprint is a measure of the impact our activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e). A carbon footprint is made up of two parts, direct and indirect emissions.

Direct emissions are produced by sources which are owned or controlled by the reporting organisation and include electricity use, burning oil or gas for heating, and fuel consumption as a result of business travel or distribution.
Indirect emissions result from a company’s upstream and downstream activities. These are typically from outsourced/contract manufacturing, and products and the services offered by the organisation.

Why is it important?

Climate change is a global threat which will impact the lives of everyone on the planet. Over the past two decades the effect of climate change have accelerated.

Considerable evidence exists proving climate change has been exacerbated by human activity. Changes in our post-industrial lifestyles have altered the chemical composition of the atmosphere, generating a build-up of greenhouse gases – primarily carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide levels – raising the average global temperature.

The consequences are already evident and will continue to worsen unless significant action is taken and quickly. Sea level will continue to rise and local climate conditions to be altered, causing an increase in extreme weather events, affecting forests, crop yields, and water supplies.

This can lead to homelessness, famine and conflict as resources become scarcer. Environmental pollution and climate change affect human health, accelerate species extinction, and disrupt vital ecosystems. Poor air quality and issues of clean water availability leave us more susceptible to diseases such as COVID-19.

Combined with rises in temperature and deforestation (from direct human action and climate change related events),resulting in the displacement of animals from their native habitats, the frequency of disease occurrence will increase, as disease will transfer from animals to other geographical areas and larger human populations.

It is vital that all individuals, businesses, organisations and governments work towards the common goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.