Two factors determine the price of an offset: the
amount of greenhouse gases that is calculated for your activities, and the
price that the seller charges to offset the emissions. Different approaches to
both mean that prices vary between sellers. Planetair continuously reviews its
pricing policy in order to ensure that its customers receive the best value for
money. Planetair’s higher prices are not the result of us taking higher
margins, but of selecting only the highest-quality offset projects through
myclimate. Currently, there are several reasons that explain why myclimate
credits are more expensive than those of some of its competitors:
- Planetair’s philosophy is to provide high quality offsets. In order to guarantee the quality and impact of the offsets it sells, Planetair only purchases offsets that meet high criteria, including the Gold Standard, the strictest standard available for emissions reductions through voluntary offsets.
- Planetair also purchases CDM offsets from myclimate, which are more expensive than VERs, but which satisfy the stringent requirements of the Kyoto Protocol.
- Planetair and myclimate do not have forestry projects or carbon sinks in their portfolio due to the controversy and uncertainty surrounding the science of tree planting as a tool in the fight against climate change. Tree planting projects are much cheaper and contribute to diminishing the price of offsets in other suppliers’ portfolio.
- Planetair uses a multiplier of 2 to calculate the CO2 emissions equivalent of flights to account for
the effects of radiative forcing.
Not all of our competitors use this multiplier. In 1999, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recommended setting this value at 2.7. Since then, the science has evolved, and more recent findings suggest that the effect is somewhat lower.
- Planetair also takes into account the fuel efficiency differences depending on flight distance, since short-haul flights and those with stopovers use comparatively more fuel than long-haul flights.
No. Planetair is a not-for-profit initiative and reinvests any excess
funds in furthering the goal of reducing global warming. We are third-party
audited once a year.
Yes. Our transaction website SSL encrypted with 128 bits and Planetair
adheres to Canadian data security laws.
The selection of Planetair’s projects is carried out by myclimate,
Planetair’s purveyor of high-quality offset credits. myclimate follows
stringent criteria in the selection of its projects. In addition
to a verifiable reduction in greenhouse gases, the projects must contribute to
local sustainable development. myclimate places special emphasis on the
projects’ economic and social compatibility and on their integrity.
Planetair and myclimate share the same philosophy: high quality offsets
and a commitment to the Gold Standard . By
entering into a partnership with myclimate, Planetair gives Canadians access to
high quality offsets from one of the most respected suppliers worldwide (see Tufts University
study). Planetair is
the exclusive distributor of myclimate products in Canada. myclimate also has partners
in several a growing number of other countries. By pooling demand worldwide,
myclimate hopes to lower the price and raise the quality of offsets available
globally.
