atmosfair

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atmosfair
logo
legal form Profit company
founding 2005
Seat Bonn
main emphasis aviation
method Compensation of CO 2 emissions
Action space Climate protection
Managing directors Dietrich Brockhagen
sales 9.9 million euros (2018)
Employees 24
Website www.atmosfair.de

The non-profit organization atmosfair offers on its website to offset greenhouse gas emissions from air travel, long-distance bus journeys, hotel stays or events ( climate compensation ), and in return carries out climate protection projects. Founded in May 2005, the Sustainability Foundation acts as a partner in the gGmbH , which emerged from a research project by the Federal Environment Ministry and Germanwatch . The patrons of atmosfair include Klaus Töpfer , Mojib Latif and Hartmut Graßl .

The organization is a signatory to the Transparent Civil Society Initiative . atmosfair is controlled from the office in Berlin-Kreuzberg and is based in Bonn .

functionality

With the emissions calculator developed by atmosfair, customers can calculate the amount of carbon dioxide caused by a trip and offset these emissions with a voluntary contribution to climate protection. For air travel , the emitted CO 2 is determined based on the distance between departure and destination airports, the forecast occupancy rate and the type of aircraft. For ship travel, the ship class, cabin category, travel days and days at sea are used to determine the CO 2 emissions. In addition to carbon dioxide, other climate-relevant emissions such as nitrogen oxides and soot particles are also taken into account. During flights, especially at high altitudes, these have a noticeable effect on the greenhouse effect (for example through ozone build-up or contrails ). According to a study by the Federal Environment Agency, this leads to a factor of 3–5, by which one liter of jet fuel has a more climate-warming effect than its CO 2 emissions alone.

After the calculations have been carried out, the customer can donate the recommended amount, which is necessary to save emissions again with the help of climate protection projects elsewhere.

The company only finances climate protection projects under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM, Kyoto Protocol ) that comply with the Gold Standard. The climate protection projects thus generate Gold Standard CERs (Certified Emission Reductions), which are also known as “emission credits” and which are shut down by atmosfair in accordance with Article 12 of the Kyoto Protocol. According to atmosfair, Verified Emission Reductions ( VER s) are not accepted because their effectiveness is not checked strictly enough.

In addition to air travel, other CO 2 emissions can also be offset. Atmosfair offers compensation for meetings and congresses.

financing

year revenue
donate Others
2005 € 166,160 144 €
2006 € 190,113 € 4,263
2007 € 1,328,208 € 46,310
2008 € 2,036,912 € 114,198
2009 € 2,255,464 € 381,899
2010 € 2,153,162 € 978,485
2011 € 1,913,851 € 2,163,050
2012 € 1,962,374 € 1,298,283
2013 € 2,297,204 € 1,641,127
2014 € 3,657,294 € 935,657
2015 € 2,873,114 € 478,520
2016 € 3,509,649 € 675,717
2017 € 6,553,822 € 562,337
2018 € 8,342,362 € 1,597,747

The company is mainly financed by compensation contributions and donations. Further sources of income are interest income from reserves and income from the sale of CO 2 accounting software. In addition, there are climate protection projects and consulting projects that were carried out on behalf of customers.

According to annual reports for the years 2009 to 2017, over 90 percent of the donations received in these years were paid directly to the operators of climate protection projects in developing countries. As the projects are long-term, the payment is usually not made immediately, but within two years.

In previous years, the total administrative costs were 10 percent or less, according to the published annual reports. Atmosfair has thus fulfilled its own claim, according to which a maximum of 20 percent of the donation income should flow into personnel expenses for supporting climate protection projects and donors as well as general administrative expenses (such as rent, IT, etc.).

Projects supported

Efficient stove for burning biomass "Save-80", the distribution of which is supported by atmosfair

Up until 2017 atmosfair financed projects in the following four categories:

  • Efficient cooking stoves: Dissemination of efficient cooking stoves in cooperation with the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves . The savings achieved or contractually bound amounted to 763,780 tons of CO 2 in the period 2009–2017. On average, a furnace saves three tons of CO 2 per year. Projects in Nigeria , Rwanda , Cameroon , Lesotho and India were supported .
  • Biogas & Biomass: Construction of small biogas plants, electricity production from harvest residues, composting of organic waste with a realized or contractually bound saving of 1,459,800 tons of CO 2 in the period 2007-2017. On average, a biogas / biomass plant saves four tons of CO 2 per year. Projects in India , Kenya , Thailand and Nepal were supported .
  • Wind, water & sun: Projects for the use of regenerative energies with a realized or contractually bound saving of 549,900 tons of CO 2 in the period 2007-2017. The hydropower project in Honduras saves around 73 tons of CO 2 per day, the solar or wind power plants save around 1.1 tons of CO 2 per year .
  • Environmental education: school projects at German schools.

Awards

In a report by Greenpeace , a donor from atmosfair, it is said that atmosfair should be rated as a serious and only recommendable provider.

A study by the University for Sustainable Development in Eberswalde examined compensation providers across Germany, with atmosfair being the only provider to receive the rating "very good". atmosfair was awarded "very good" in the categories realistic calculation, quality of compensation and consumer communication.

The climate department at the American University of Tufts carried out a study on 13 organizations that offer offsets for CO 2 emissions. The criteria were transparency, the accuracy of the emissions calculations, the price of the offsets and administrative costs. atmosfair was one of four providers that achieved the grade “very good”.

Furthermore, atmosfair took first place in the following rankings:

  • 2018: Stiftung Warentest - Financial Test - CO2 Compensation: These providers do the most for climate protection
  • In a comparative study by the University of Graz, atmosfair was the only one of the tested providers to be rated “highly recommended”. Atmosfair was best in class in the main categories “quality of compensation” and “transparency”.
  • A study by the University of Brussels sees atmosfair as the most recommendable provider.
  • Test winner of the British environmental magazine " BBC Wildlife" with 8 out of 10 points.
  • Test winner of the Swedish daily " Aftonbladet ".
  • With two other providers "unreservedly recommended" by the Federation of German Consumer Organizations 2010.

In other rankings, the company was in the top group.

Environmental integrity

The advisory board, occupied u. a. with representatives of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), atmosfair monitors compliance with standards that are reflected in the annual report. These include a. No acceptance of donations from donors who do not adhere to the atmosfair standards when calculating CO 2 : the CDM Gold Standard for all compensation projects, the CO 2 calculation of the climate impact of air travel according to the state of the art and no use of the The term “climate neutral” or similar trivializing terms.

The inclusion of other pollutants in the emissions calculation in addition to the CO 2 2008 meant that atmosfair was unable to cooperate with Lufthansa . The attitude of atmosfair was welcomed by scientists and climate protectionists as well as in the media.

Criticism of atmosfair

In May 2019, Report Mainz criticized atmosfair and CO 2 compensation in general. He suggested that projects do little to reduce emissions. In the contribution, biologist Jutta Kill , who observed the use of non-emission-neutral fuels in a compensation project, and sociologist Andreas Knie , who spoke of " indulgences ", spoke. The atmosfair patrons disagreed and submitted reviews of their projects and another contribution: Offsetting is always just a supplementary measure if CO 2 cannot be avoided or reduced.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ www.transparency.de ( Memento from September 5, 2017 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on March 4, 2014
  2. ↑ signees of the Declaration against Corruption . Transparency International Germany eV.
  3. ↑ The emissions calculator. (PDF; 297 KiB) atmosfair, 2008, archived from the original on October 17, 2016 ; accessed on October 17, 2016 .
  4. ↑ CO 2 emission calculator for ocean cruises: Documentation of the calculation method, version 1.1. (PDF; 1.2 MiB) atmosfair, October 2010, archived from the original on October 17, 2016 ; accessed on October 17, 2016 .
  5. ↑ Climate impact of air traffic (PDF; 214 kB) Retrieved on December 28, 2010.
  6. ^ United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: UNFCCC . Cdm.unfccc.int. November 26, 2010. Retrieved December 28, 2010.
  7. ↑ Gold Standard for Climate Protection Projects, cdmgoldstandard.org
  8. ↑ a b atmosfair annual report 2008 (PDF; 2.4 MB) Retrieved on October 17, 2018.
  9. ↑ atmosfair annual report 2006 (PDF; 1.1 MB) Retrieved on October 17, 2018.
  10. ↑ atmosfair annual report 2007 (PDF; 1.0 MB) Retrieved on October 17, 2018.
  11. ↑ atmosfair annual report 2009 (PDF; 3.0 MB) Retrieved on October 17, 2018.
  12. ↑ atmosfair annual report 2010 (PDF; 2.6 MB) Retrieved on October 17, 2018.
  13. ↑ atmosfair annual report 2011 (PDF; 4.2 MB) Retrieved on October 17, 2018.
  14. ↑ atmosfair annual report 2012 (PDF; 7.8 MB) Retrieved on October 17, 2018.
  15. ↑ atmosfair annual report 2013 (PDF; 9.2 MB) Retrieved on October 17, 2018.
  16. ↑ a b atmosfair annual report 2014 (PDF; 8.5 MB) Retrieved on October 17, 2018.
  17. ↑ a b atmosfair annual report 2015 (PDF; 6.2 MB) Retrieved on October 17, 2018.
  18. ↑ atmosfair annual report 2016 (PDF; 7.2 MB) Retrieved on October 17, 2018.
  19. ↑ atmosfair annual report 2017 (PDF; 6.0 MB) Retrieved on October 17, 2018.
  20. ↑ atmosfair annual report 2018 (PDF; 8.4 MB) Retrieved on December 25, 2019.
  21. ↑ Climate - bargains . Greenpeace-magazin.de. Retrieved December 28, 2010.
  22. ↑ Greenhouse gas compensation providers in Germany (PDF; 3.3 MB) Archived from the original on October 16, 2013. Retrieved on May 2, 2014.
  23. ↑ a b Voluntary Offsets For Air-Travel Carbon Emissions: Evaluations and Recommendations of Thirteen Offset Companies (PDF; 652 kB) Archived from the original on May 12, 2012. Retrieved on May 10, 2012.
  24. ↑ Test reports and studies. atmosfair, accessed on October 17, 2016 .
  25. ↑ Stiftung Warentest: CO2 compensation - These providers do the most for climate protection - Test - Stiftung Warentest. Retrieved October 22, 2018 .
  26. ↑ Study by the University of Graz (PDF) Retrieved on December 28, 2010.
  27. ↑ André Heughebaert: Etude comparative des programmes de compensation volontaire de CO2 en Belgique ( Memento of 19 May 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 1.2 MB), June 2008, short version.
  28. ↑ Konsumfuersklima.de : Press release from July 6, 2010 ( Memento from January 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  29. ↑ What are the Top-Rated Carbon Offset Companies? - Planet Green . Planetgreen.discovery.com. February 23, 2009. Retrieved December 28, 2010.
  30. ↑ Articles of Association of atmosfair gGmbH. atmosfair, accessed on October 17, 2016 .
  31. ↑ Benjamin Hammer: Lufthansa offers customers a voluntary climate tax. In: Berliner Zeitung . September 18, 2007, accessed June 12, 2015 .
  32. ↑ Video Flying with a clear environmental conscience  in the ZDFmediathek , accessed on January 25, 2014. (offline)
  33. ^ Monika Anthes, Ulrich Neumann, Marius Meyer, Philipp Reichert: Pay voluntarily for the climate. Good business with a guilty conscience. In: DasErste.de/Report Mainz. Bayerischer Rundfunk BR / Ulrich Wilhelm, May 7, 2019, accessed on July 31, 2019 .
  34. ↑ Brigitta Weber: Reply to atmosfair dated May 23, 2019. In: atmosfair. May 23, 2019, accessed July 31, 2019 .
  35. ^ Report Mainz. In: atmosfair. atmosfair gGmbH, May 18, 2019, accessed on July 31, 2019 .