Hewlett-Packard is leading the fight against climate change through through its use of renewable energy, through increasing energy efficiency in both its operations and products, and through initiatives such as HP Labs’ development of the Net-Zero Energy Data Center. Hewlett-Packard is now taking its commitment to the next level by partnering with Carbon Offsets To Alleviate Poverty (COTAP). COTAP specializes in connecting individuals’ carbon footprints with certified forestry projects in least-developed regions which create life-changing income for smallholder farmers who live on less than $2 per day.
Hewlett-Packard Will Offset Half Of Your Carbon Emissions
Hewlett-Packard and COTAP are launching an innovative employee carbon offset matching program through which Hewlett-Packard will help its employees address their personal carbon emissions by matching their COTAP carbon offset transactions. Through this program, Hewlett-Packard will be effectively offsetting half of your carbon footprint, and together we’ll be fighting climate change and alleviating poverty in Uganda, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Malawi, and India.
How It Works
Hewlett-Packard employees can measure their personal CO2 emissions and offset up to half of their footprint, and Hewlett-Packard will match the full amount of your carbon offset transaction. This is accomplished in 3 Easy Steps:
- Using COTAP’s calculator below, measure your personal annual CO2 emissions. COTAP’s carbon calculator methodology can be found here.
- Offset half of your carbon footprint by entering half of your tonnes at right. For employees who wish to offset more than half, who prefer not to calculate, or who prefer to offset in increments of $25, this option has been provided and Hewlett-Packard will still match the donation subject to a $xx minimum and the annual limit of $xx per employee per year.
- Submit your transaction details to Hewlett-Packard using the link at right.
You’re done! Together, you and Hewlett-Packard have addressed your annual CO2 emissions while creating life-changing income for farmers in least-developed countries! 90.9% of funds go directly to COTAP’s projects and all tonnes offset through this program will be evenly allocated to COTAP’s five projects on 3 continents.
Measure Your Annual CO2 Emissions
Additional Program Details
COTAP pools purchases of carbon offsets by individuals and organizations to support certified afforestation and reforestation projects which make payments to farmers in exchange for the planting and long-term maintenence of trees on their land. All of our projects are certified by Plan Vivo, the longest-standing forestry carbon standard in the world, and the only standard which requires that projects have detailed plans for direct carbon revenue sharing with participating communities.
Plantings and tree growth are monitored and verified, and farmers receive front-loaded, performance-based payments over a period of 7 to 10 years for carbon sequestration which is projected to take place over the course of 25 or more years. In addition, farmers benefit from their trees’ fruit and nut crop income, increased food and fuel security, improved soil quality, and reduced erosion.
More About Carbon Offsetting
Carbon offsets are the market-based climate change solution through which you take responsibility for your unavoidable CO2 emissions from driving, flying, and home energy use. By buying offsets, you are taking responsibility for your personal contribution to climate change by indirectly compensating others for performing the service of counteracting the emissions which you haven’t yet been able to eliminate. When you offset through COTAP, you’re going a step further by also transforming livelihoods of some of the poorest communities on Earth.
Offsetting should be done alongside other equally important personal climate change actions, like advocating for cleaner energy sources and reducing your carbon footprint. Offsetting, advocacy, and reduction efforts all work together. For example, the process of measuring your emissions helps to reveal opportunities for reducing your footprint as well as areas where we need cleaner energy sources.
Learn More About COTAP
To learn more, please see the Mission, Projects, How It Works, How We’re Different, Transparency, and Standards sections of our site and see our above menu.
