Insetting as a Carbon Footprint Strategy

1. What is Insetting and How Does it Differ from Offsetting?

Wait, carbon insetting? I only knew about carbon offsetting….

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Think of carbon credits used to offset emissions as the umbrella category. Both offsetting and insetting fall under this, but the key difference lies in the location of where it takes place.

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Offsetting: This involves purchasing carbon credits (one ton of stored carbon) from outside your supply chain. Corporations use these credits to meet their carbon emission targets. Offsetting helps, but it doesn't address the root of your emissions. It's like applying a temporary fix without addressing the underlying issue.

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Insetting: Here’s where it gets interesting. Insetting means creating carbon credits within your own supply chain. Imagine growing your own tomatoes instead of buying them – it’s more sustainable and gives you better control.

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Simple, right?

Insetting lets businesses produce carbon assets that counteract their emissions from within their own supply chain. This method emphasises MRV (Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification), ensuring the authenticity of the carbon assets.

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‍2. The Scope 3 Perspective

Companies all around busy minimising their scope 1 and 2 emissions, focusing on direct emissions and energy purchases. However, scope 3 emissions – those "sneaky" indirect ones from the value chain – often make up the bulk of an organisation’s carbon footprint….

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Insetting offers a smart way to tackle these indirect emissions. By funding carbon insett initiatives directly within their value chains, companies can gain more control over their scope 3 emissions.

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3. How Do I Get Started?

Starting with insetting involves a few key steps:

• Identify opportunities within your supply chain for carbon removal.
  
• Engage stakeholders to ensure alignment and support.
• Implement monitoring practices to track and verify the impact of your insetting projects.

4. Where Scature Comes In!

Scature is here to guide you through the carbon credits process and assist in your transition to more regenerative practices. Need a more sustainable source? We can help you find it, accredit it, and integrate it into your emissions reduction strategy.

Imagine a fashion company transitioning to regenerative cotton or a food manufacturer sourcing regenerative tomatoes. Scature can research potential suppliers, discuss options, accredit the farmers, and ensure that your company is insetting its carbon with credits from your own supply chain.

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Insetting offers a unique route for companies aiming to enhance their sustainability efforts while keeping an eye on shareholder, board, and CEO expectations. It provides a faster, more controlled way to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, benefiting both the climate and your financial bottom line.

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Ultimately, insetting has the potential to remove significant amounts of CO2, faster than many other methods. Though it hasn’t received much attention yet, it’s a promising approach for both environmental and financial benefits. It could also help companies offering carbon removal project solutions to navigate the sometimes turbulent Voluntary Carbon Market.