CO₂ Offset

MoorFutures - Regional strategies to avoid greenhouse gas emissions with the local benefits of the protection of nature and environment

Even though the reduction in travel reduces the CO₂ footprint of conferences significantly, Obringer et al. (2021)* estimate the footprint of internet use to be between 28.06 and 62.94 g CO_2e per GB (median 32.13), between 0.15 and 34.99 liters of water per GB (median 0.74), and between 0.68 and 19.98 cm² land use per GB (median 11.07), depending on location. Video conferences might need about 3.2 GB per hour, depending on video quality. In addition, the organization of the conference required numerous conference calls, emails and software running on webservers, resulting in additional internet use. We have therefore decided to offer an optional CO₂ offset scheme for EAERE 2021, supporting a local compensation project.

With your contribution to the EAERE 2021 carbon offset a local climate protection project in the north of Berlin is being supported.

The area is called “Rehwiese” and is part of a project to compensate our climate damaging emissions and reduce our carbon footprint. This possibility to act for nature and climate, right on our doorstep, is provided by the Flächenagentur Brandenburg GmbH, through a project called “MoorFutures”. The “Rehwiese” is a fen region located in the north of Brandenburg, close to Berlin, between Nassenheide and Liebenwalde.

Intact and wet moors are precious to the eco systems and play an important role to the regional water balance, climate protection, and biodiversity. Unfortunatly, there are not many of these intact wetlands in Germany anymore. In the last centuries, the moors have absorbed a large amount of carbon dioxide which is released over time due to the drainage of these wetlands. Nearly all moors have been drained for agricultural use in the last decades. As a result, they are not in their near-natural state. In Brandenburg, for example, the released carbon dioxide caused by the drainage of the moors is one of the main sources of the total emissions, far more than the road and air traffic combined.

The re-irrigation of the drained “Rehwiese” is the first “MoorFutures” project in Brandenburg. Anyone can invest in this project of voluntary climate protection, private donors, companies or organizations. An investment in one “MoorFuture” is the equivalent of one ton of avoided emissions and there is also “MoorFrosch” for smaller investments of 100kg avoided emissions.

An investment in MoorFutures is an investment in a local project, in regional protection of nature and environment, and in global climate protection. In case the project in Brandenburg will be sold out, an additional wetland area “Königsmoor” in Schleswig-Holstein between Hamburg and Flensburg is available.

More Information: MoorFutures Website (in German only)

*https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.105389