About the trust
The CO2 Offset Trust – ‘Rotarians for CO2 Reduction’
Contacts:
The Trust’s registered office is at
Atherton Godfrey, Solicitors
8 Hall Gate,
Doncaster DN1 3LU
South Yorkshire, UK
Email the Trust at info@co2offsettrust.org
The Trust has ambassadors in the UK, USA, Canada, South Africa and Australia – contact us for details.
Introduction: Human activity is affecting our climate and is predicted to cause severe humanitarian problems within two generations. The generally accepted reason is the release of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) caused by burning fossil fuels. The main scientifically accepted impacts of this will be:
The CO2 Offset Trust – ‘Rotarians for CO2 Reduction’ – is an International Rotary Club-to-Club Project backed by ten Clubs in seven Districts on four continents. It is a not-for-profit scheme devised by Rotarians, to enable everyone to take part in activities involving Climate Change:
The Trust is a charity registered in England and Wales, whose objects are:
1.Whether you believe in the causes – and the potentially disastrous implications for humans – it makes sense to reduce energy use, therefore making cost savings at home and at work.
2.One thing is certain … WE ALL WASTE ENERGY! So we can all save money by reducing waste. But if you also believe this wasted energy is seriously affecting the Climate, it makes energy saving twice as important.
4.Communities are being encouraged to save energy (e.g. in the USA, Maryland’s State target is 15% electricity reduction over 7 years) so it makes sense for community representatives like Rotarians to take a lead in this challenge.
5.Rotarians are business people, so reducing energy costs at work and at home also make good business sense.
6.The Trust aims to be a forum through which Rotarians can share ideas, educate each other and donate to a Rotary project to offset their unavoidable CO2 emissions (like flights)
7.At the 2008 Los Angeles Rotary Convention, booth reps (from USA, UK & Australia) found that many Rotarians had some appreciation of Global Warming and wanted to know more in a non-politicised and unbiased explanation.
8.Delegates from countries including Philippines, Canada, India, Bangladesh, Dubai, Switzerland, Uganda, Nepal, Finland, Argentina, Nigeria, Mexico, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Japan, and California said that their climate is either heating up, becoming less predictable, more stormy, wetter, drier, and less pleasant.
9.Delegates – and especially incoming District Governors – were keen to discuss what their Clubs can do to raise Climate Change awareness and make an effort to do something.
10.It needs a forum to discuss the implications and solutions. The Trust aims to develop that Forum, through the website and materials gradually being made available on the website.
11.It is stressed that the website is a developing project. However, there is a great deal of downloadable material for Clubs here, such as the leaflet “20 Projects to help your Club reduce Climate Change”.
The Trust wants Rotarians to:
Returning to the three questions for Rotarians. ………
A plan was drawn up to create a Website where Rotarians could easily calculate the cost of removing from the atmosphere the CO2 their activity had generated. It would invite them to donate this amount into a Trust fund. And it would ask Clubs to devise CO2 reduction projects, claiming a grant toward the project costs from the Trust fund. From these ideas the CO2 Offset Trust was born.
Rotarians Involved with the Trust: An interesting team has come together to build the project. Trust chair Peter Sephton once ran Britain’s largest employee-owned company, operating 1,000 buses. Andy Ledbetter, of the Dronfield Club in District 1220, Derbyshire, was world tour manager for some well-known music artists, including Pink Floyd, Paul McCartney, Led Zeppelin and Genesis. Peter Moralee of the Bretby Club, Nottinghamshire had a lifetime of experience in nuclear energy, coal-fired electricity stations and recycled waste power generation in places as varied as Kazakhstan and Devon. With an enthusiastic young probate and trust lawyer Colin Watret - new to Rotary and from the Sheffield Hallam Club, the project team began to take shape.
In Arizona in the spring of 2007, Christine and Peter visited an energetic Club they know in District 5510 - Tempe South. Guest Speaker was Jim O'Brien, Chief of Staff to the President at Arizona State University, which claims the largest Department of Sustainability in the USA. They explained the need for independent technical advice, stressing the importance of an educational aspect within the project. ASU already has the CEO's of Starbucks and Walmart on its Sustainability School Board, and was delighted to become involved with a Rotary project as technical advisors.
The plan was to create a UK-based Trust, which requires funds of £5,000 ($10,000), so the gang of four set out to visit Clubs they know around the world to raise donations. $1,000 is the minimum to become a Founding Member and to date the UK Clubs of Sheffield in D1270 and Dronfield, Bretby and Drone Valley in D1220, the US Clubs of East Hampton in D7260 and Tempe South in D5510, the Australian Clubs of Margaret River in D9460 and Naracoorte in D9780, and the South African club of Kirstenbosch in D9350 have all become Founding Members of The CO2 Offset Trust.
The official launch of the Website took place at the District 1220 Conference in Southport, Lancashire, on October 8th 2007, where the perfect opportunity presents itself. The guest speaker will be BBC Weather Presenter Bill Giles - speaking on Climate Change!
Building up funds to support projects:
It is a not-for-profit scheme (Registered UK Charity Number 1122835) devised by Rotarians, to enable Rotary Clubs to take part in .....
Contacts:
The Trust’s registered office is at
Atherton Godfrey, Solicitors
8 Hall Gate,
Doncaster DN1 3LU
South Yorkshire, UK
Email the Trust at info@co2offsettrust.org
The Trust has ambassadors in the UK, USA, Canada, South Africa and Australia – contact us for details.
Introduction: Human activity is affecting our climate and is predicted to cause severe humanitarian problems within two generations. The generally accepted reason is the release of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) caused by burning fossil fuels. The main scientifically accepted impacts of this will be:
- 1.Extreme weather conditions such as drought and floods
- 2.Rising sea level caused by melting glaciers and warmer water.
- 3.Displaced and disadvantaged populations arising from these causes
- Do we accept that our climate is changing?
- Do we agree that we are causing it?
- Can Rotarians do anything about it?
-
“Examined from the perspective of conflict and conflict resolution, there is no doubt the effects of climate change, especially on the poorer parts of the world, are likely to be the most important issues for the next two decades.
‘If we do not prevent the excesses of climate change, we will be bequeathing to our children a world of severe insecurity, if not chaos, and it will be our generation that will be blamed.
‘The urgency of our response is fundamental - much of the recent evidence on climate change indicates that it is accelerating even faster than the computer models have predicted. Wide-ranging action has to be taken in the next five years. Setting grand targets for 2040 or 2050 is woefully inadequate.”
The CO2 Offset Trust – ‘Rotarians for CO2 Reduction’ – is an International Rotary Club-to-Club Project backed by ten Clubs in seven Districts on four continents. It is a not-for-profit scheme devised by Rotarians, to enable everyone to take part in activities involving Climate Change:
The Trust is a charity registered in England and Wales, whose objects are:
- Conservation, protection and improvement of the natural environment by:
- Raising awareness of – and encouraging practical steps to reduce – atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.
- The disbursement of grants (raised by donations to the Trust)
1.Whether you believe in the causes – and the potentially disastrous implications for humans – it makes sense to reduce energy use, therefore making cost savings at home and at work.
2.One thing is certain … WE ALL WASTE ENERGY! So we can all save money by reducing waste. But if you also believe this wasted energy is seriously affecting the Climate, it makes energy saving twice as important.
4.Communities are being encouraged to save energy (e.g. in the USA, Maryland’s State target is 15% electricity reduction over 7 years) so it makes sense for community representatives like Rotarians to take a lead in this challenge.
5.Rotarians are business people, so reducing energy costs at work and at home also make good business sense.
6.The Trust aims to be a forum through which Rotarians can share ideas, educate each other and donate to a Rotary project to offset their unavoidable CO2 emissions (like flights)
7.At the 2008 Los Angeles Rotary Convention, booth reps (from USA, UK & Australia) found that many Rotarians had some appreciation of Global Warming and wanted to know more in a non-politicised and unbiased explanation.
8.Delegates from countries including Philippines, Canada, India, Bangladesh, Dubai, Switzerland, Uganda, Nepal, Finland, Argentina, Nigeria, Mexico, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Japan, and California said that their climate is either heating up, becoming less predictable, more stormy, wetter, drier, and less pleasant.
9.Delegates – and especially incoming District Governors – were keen to discuss what their Clubs can do to raise Climate Change awareness and make an effort to do something.
10.It needs a forum to discuss the implications and solutions. The Trust aims to develop that Forum, through the website and materials gradually being made available on the website.
11.It is stressed that the website is a developing project. However, there is a great deal of downloadable material for Clubs here, such as the leaflet “20 Projects to help your Club reduce Climate Change”.
The Trust wants Rotarians to:
- Educate (themselves & the public) about the topic and the solutions
- Conserve (save energy, cut costs)
- Donate to a Club project via this website to offset unavoidable emissions like flights
- Create Club Projects that reduce CO2
Returning to the three questions for Rotarians. ………
- Do we accept that our climate is changing?
- Do we agree that we are causing it?
- Can Rotarians do anything about it?
A plan was drawn up to create a Website where Rotarians could easily calculate the cost of removing from the atmosphere the CO2 their activity had generated. It would invite them to donate this amount into a Trust fund. And it would ask Clubs to devise CO2 reduction projects, claiming a grant toward the project costs from the Trust fund. From these ideas the CO2 Offset Trust was born.
Rotarians Involved with the Trust: An interesting team has come together to build the project. Trust chair Peter Sephton once ran Britain’s largest employee-owned company, operating 1,000 buses. Andy Ledbetter, of the Dronfield Club in District 1220, Derbyshire, was world tour manager for some well-known music artists, including Pink Floyd, Paul McCartney, Led Zeppelin and Genesis. Peter Moralee of the Bretby Club, Nottinghamshire had a lifetime of experience in nuclear energy, coal-fired electricity stations and recycled waste power generation in places as varied as Kazakhstan and Devon. With an enthusiastic young probate and trust lawyer Colin Watret - new to Rotary and from the Sheffield Hallam Club, the project team began to take shape.
In Arizona in the spring of 2007, Christine and Peter visited an energetic Club they know in District 5510 - Tempe South. Guest Speaker was Jim O'Brien, Chief of Staff to the President at Arizona State University, which claims the largest Department of Sustainability in the USA. They explained the need for independent technical advice, stressing the importance of an educational aspect within the project. ASU already has the CEO's of Starbucks and Walmart on its Sustainability School Board, and was delighted to become involved with a Rotary project as technical advisors.
The plan was to create a UK-based Trust, which requires funds of £5,000 ($10,000), so the gang of four set out to visit Clubs they know around the world to raise donations. $1,000 is the minimum to become a Founding Member and to date the UK Clubs of Sheffield in D1270 and Dronfield, Bretby and Drone Valley in D1220, the US Clubs of East Hampton in D7260 and Tempe South in D5510, the Australian Clubs of Margaret River in D9460 and Naracoorte in D9780, and the South African club of Kirstenbosch in D9350 have all become Founding Members of The CO2 Offset Trust.
The official launch of the Website took place at the District 1220 Conference in Southport, Lancashire, on October 8th 2007, where the perfect opportunity presents itself. The guest speaker will be BBC Weather Presenter Bill Giles - speaking on Climate Change!
Building up funds to support projects:
- 1.Rotarians are encouraged to donate to offset their personal carbon emissions such as airline flights. This is fundamental to the creation of the Trust fund for Club projects. It will be appreciated if this aspect can be stressed to Club members.
- 2.Continental Airlines (‘Eco Skies’) and British Airways (‘Respecting Our World’) are two examples of airlines that ask passengers to offset their CO2 emissions when they fly.
- 3.But why make a donation to a commercial airline carbon offset project when it could go to a Rotary Club carbon offsetting project?
- The Trust wants Rotary Clubs to show ingenuity in creating climate change (i.e. carbon dioxide reduction) projects that get lots of “Bang for their Buck”.
- If Rotarians donate to the Trust when to offset the carbon dioxide they create, matching grants can be made available to support accredited Club projects
- Better still – Rotarians can get their companies to use the Trust to offset employee flights and travel.
- Trust members have been giving talks around Clubs in the USA, UK, South Africa and Australia. A Horncastle, Lincolnshire Club member said after the Trust talk “This is the project we need to get younger people interested in Rotary, because it’s THEIR future and Rotary Clubs will be seen doing something about a big world problem in their own communities”
- Trustees are all Rotarians and give their time on a pro-bono basis.
- Eliminate plastic bags, encourage walking & cycling, improve home insulation, switch to CFL light-bulbs, monitor energy use, buy from renewable sources, maintain tyre pressures, buy Energy Star appliances, help local people reduce their energy costs, spread the word, set up a forum locally to examine ideas, etc...
It is a not-for-profit scheme (Registered UK Charity Number 1122835) devised by Rotarians, to enable Rotary Clubs to take part in .....
- The conservation, protection and improvement of the natural environment, by:
- raising awareness of - and encouraging practical steps to reduce - atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.
- the disbursement of grants to support humanitarian projects that reduce the impact of climate change;
- 1. Encourage Rotarians and the public to donate to offset the CO2 created by their activities
- 2. Provide a Web Site to calculate the donations needed to offset various CO2-emitting activities.
- 3. Encourage Rotary Clubs to devise local CO2 reduction schemes and promote these on the Web site
- 4. Make grants from the Trust to accredited CO2 reduction schemes supported and monitored by Rotary Clubs.
- 5. Encourage Rotary Clubs to educate their communities about ways to reduce CO2 locally, providing grants for approved education schemes.
- 6. Donate to Rotary Foundation Health Hunger & Humanity (3H) programmes designed to mitigate the effects of Climate Change.
- Sheffield - D1270, UK
- Dronfield - D.1220 UK
- East Hampton - D.7260 USA
- Tempe South - D.5510 USA
- Bretby - D.1220 UK
- Margaret River - D.9460 Australia
- Drone Valley - D.1220 UK
- Naracoorte - D.9780, South Australia
- Kirstenbosch, D.9350, South Africa
- Nanaimo, D.5020, British Columbia, Canada