By diverting funds from carbon offsets to local initiatives, directors at the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) are hoping the municipality might achieve local emission targets sooner -a strategy that comes with a cost.
By forgoing carbon offsets, the SCRD would likely have to vanquish any hope of being labelled carbon neutral while it marches towards the ultimate goal of achieving its own net-zero carbon footprint.
"Having gone through round one and looking at the consequence of that and the cost to our taxpayers, I have a lot of discomfort about carbon neutral," said Gibsons director Coun. Gerry Tretick at the Feb. 2 infrastructure services committee. "It's a monster that's been released, and it's costing us nothing but money."
SCRD staff were directed by the board at the meeting to explore ways funding for offsets might be better spent on local Earth-friendly projects.
By purchasing offsets, organizations like the SCRD have helped to sponsor reductions in the global carbon footprint, investing in outside projects aimed at lowering emissions, increasing efficiencies, or sequestering greenhouses gases.
But the money used to buy offsets, estimated by staff to be at least $25,000 for a carbon neutral 2012, might also be used to bring the SCRD closer to the eventual goal of being a net-zero emitter of greenhouse gases.
"It's kind of like buying indulgences, this sort of sin-and-repent syndrome," commented Roberts Creek director Donna Shugar. "I would rather not pay somebody else $25,000 to do their project some place else, I'd rather take the $25,000 and spend it here."
However, there are advantages to purchasing carbon offsets, said Scott MacDonald, CEO of Pacific Carbon Trust, a Crown corporation that markets homegrown carbon offsets to companies and organizations in B.C.
According to him, an organization's dollars can sometimes go further when they're invested in scaled projects that produce greater reductions for less money.
"The reason why is that you're buying leverage," he explained.
An organization like the SCRD might opt to purchase a high efficiency heating system for one of its buildings in order to reduce its carbon footprint. But with offsets, that money could instead be invested in a larger project, such as replacing a coal-fired power plant, where the dollars might go farther towards reducing global emissions.
As to what might be a better strategy, "there's not an easy answer," MacDonald said.
Different factors come into play, namely how much of a reduction is being purchased with the money and what the life expectancy of a particular investment is.
Smaller, local projects will have a greater chance of outpacing the immediate gains of carbon offsets when they're designed to last, producing benefits for the community over the long-term.
"You want to actually run the math and see what the actual result gets you," said MacDonald.
But not everyone is in agreement that carbon offsets are an effective way to reduce an organization's footprint and build towards a sustainable future.
"Buying carbon credits is an absolute waste of money," said Erich Schwartz, president of Greenomics.
With a Canadian headquarters in Gibsons, Greenomics provides consulting services to companies and organizations looking to reap the economic benefits of sustainability.
While many of their clients are businesses looking to improve their image and increase profitability, the motto is the same for municipalities -keep your money for yourself.
Carbon offsets allow private businesses to generate the funding they need to make expensive upgrades in hopes of increasing their long-term profitability, Schwartz said.
"From a taxpayer's perspective, what do I get from it? I get absolutely nothing," he stressed, "All I ultimately end up doing is supplementing another business."
Purchasing offsets does little to change an organization's behaviour, he added, while other groups and companies reap the benefits.
A municipality might find it more effective to invest that money in a local project, like a non-profit that uses it to plant trees, or a pilot program designed to take cars off the road by making public transportation more accessible.
A facility in the Columbia Shuswap Regional District (CSRD) has shown how creative solutions might have the capacity to generate local rewards.
Not only will methane harvested from decomposing organics in the CSRD landfill be used to heat local homes, but it's expected to produce 10,000 tonnes of revenue-generating offsets per year.
