17 Best Carbon Offset Programs For Individuals and Businesses

We need to reduce our carbon emissions to fight climate change, to protect planet earth. there are many reports saying that we are pumping over 35 Billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere, each and every year, so carbon offsetting is a powerful way to reduce our own carbon footprint, here are 17 of the best carbon offset programs to invest in.

Our own activities according to a report done by NASA humans are causing global warming. We are experiencing extreme weather conditions, with biodiversity, flooding, and fires.

There are many different programs for impactful carbon offset programs, but it can be difficult to know exactly which one would be right for you.

We will try to help you to navigate through the different carbon offset program options for you. We will let you know the benefits of investing in each different carbon offset program.

Putting together what we feel is the most comprehensive list of carbon offset programs for you to choose from, as there are many different ones all over the world.  

What are carbon offset programs? 

Most of the daily activities that we do will leave an impact on our environment. We leave our carbon footprint when we are driving our cars, flying, buying goods, shipping goods, and doing plenty of other activities.

Becoming carbon neutral is the goal, and with different options to invest in carbon offset programs, and change our lifestyles, we can all achieve carbon neutrality.

Carbon offset credits are given to individuals or to companies that buy the credits to offset their emissions.  There are projects and initiatives that help in removing carbon emissions.

Companies will buy carbon offsets if they emit carbon into the atmosphere.  So instead of actually reducing their carbon emissions, they will buy the carbon offset credits.

The most common carbon offset projects are carbon capture, renewable energy, and clean water projects. Carbon emission offsets can have a significant environmental change.

Quality Carbon Offset Projects

You want to make sure that the carbon offset program that you invest in, is of the highest standards.

1. Gold Standard

The Gold Standard is a certification that makes sure that the project will provide a lasting environmental, economical, and social benefits.

The UNs Sustainable Development Goals are met when they verify and endorse the project. For the program to meet the Gold Standard Verification it needs to contribute at least 3 UN SDGs.

The Gold Standard has issued over 135 million carbon credits to over 1800 different projects all over the world. The Gold Standard focuses mostly on developing countries, with projects such as reforestation, community service, and renewable energy.

2. Verified Carbon Standards 

Verified Carbon Standard is one of the most accepted voluntary carbon offset programs. This project enables certified projects to convert their greenhouse gas emissions reduction and removal and turn them into carbon credits.

Reducing greenhouse gasses is their main focus. they have issued carbon credits to over 1800 different projects, and have removed about 650 million tons of carbon dioxide from the earth’s atmosphere. They have many different categories that they focus on, but the main ones are forest conservation, forest restoration, and renewable clean energy.

3. Climate Action Reserve

Climate Action Reserve is the leader in North America and focuses on the environmental integrity of GHG  reduction projects. The focus is to help companies to reduce their carbon emissions, by managing and measuring their emissions.

the projects that they focus on have social and economic impacts. the carbon credits that they issue have their own serial number so that each project can be tracked. They like to focus on landfill gas collection projects, methane capture, rice cultivation, and forestry.

4. American Carbon Registry 

American Carbon Registry is the leader in the carbon market. They certify many major projects, they also are approved for the Offset Project registry by the California Air Resources Board.

They are one of the most established being founded back in 1996. They focus on forest management, recycling transformer oil, and carbon capture and storage.

17 best carbon offset programs

Here are our top picks for some of the best carbon offset programs from all over the world.

Balanced Earth

Third part Certifications

Gold Standard

Climate Action Reserve

American Carbon Registry

Verified Carbon Standard

Projects

Reducing Deforestation

Clean Water

Renewable Energy

Protecting Wildlife

Balanced Earth is one of the best carbon offset programs, they work with different organizations to help individuals and companies to reduce their carbon footprint.

Not only does Balanced Earth promote environmental projects, but they also promote social benefits too. They have a project to help The Cardamom Rainforest in Cambodia. This is one of the last unfragmented rainforests in Southeast Asia. These projects also help to promote and support community livelihoods.

They are also promoting the dryland forest in Kenya, with a potential of 1.7 million tons of carbon offset per year. their projects also promote long-term jobs, education, protecting wildlife, and growing trees.

Another project that they are also promoting is for rural families in Myanmar, the project subsidizes the purchase of fuel-efficient stoves, to reduce the use of wood. Purchasing over 200,000 stoves will reduce deforestation, and air pollution from domestic cooking. Each stove saves about 2.5 tons of wood per year, and carbon emissions are reduced by four tons per stove a year.

Balanced Earth has many different projects that they support, and they focus on different types of carbon offset programs. They have carbon footprint calculators for individuals, and businesses.

You can buy your carbon offsets with different programs, with small donations, and large ones, they try to make it practice for everyone to reduce their carbon footprint. they offer many different tips on how everyone to cardice their carbon foot print with a few lifestyle changes.

 Native Energy

Third-party certifications

• Gold Standard
• Climate Action Reserve
• American Carbon Registry
• Verified Carbon Standard. 

Projects

• Clean water
• Regenerative Agriculture
• Renewable energy, etc. 

Native Energy was established in 2000, they are one of the leaders in the carbon offset space, and they work with many different organizations to help to create carbon sustainability.

They focus on not only environmental projects, but also social projects. They provide filters for purifying water for local communities in Ethiopia. They have projects for biodiversity and regeneration agriculture with community-wide projects.

When you invest in this carbon offset project an individual can offset their home, travel, and work carbon footprint.

With their carbon offset calculator, an individual can calculate their carbon footprint resulting from their lifestyle and activities. it will give you the cost of what you need to invest to be carbon neutral. so then you will know what projects you can invest in.

They follow strict standards for social and environmental programs. They validate their carbon offsets with third-party standards. When you purchase your carbon offsets, you can do it monthly, quarterly, or even yearly.

         

Sustainable Travel International 

Third-party certifications

• Gold Standard
• Verified Carbon Standard 
• Plan Vivo
• Natural Forest Standard, etc

Projects

• Wind farm
• Clean energy 
• Water filters
• Biodigesters

Sustainable Travel International is one of the best carbon offset programs for tourism. they focus on sustainable tourism.  They were formed in 2000, and focus on the long-term environmental impact.

They have partnerships with government agencies and policymakers to create ecotourism. its goal is to minimize the negative impacts of tourism.

Having carbon offset projects for both individuals, and businesses, they can develop and customize a program for the carbon offset assessment.

When you invest in Sustainable Travel International most of their projects focus on biodiversity, clean and efficient energy, and local communities.

With their carbon footprint calculator, you will be able to see the cost of the carbon offsetting with them and the overall carbon emissions.

myClimate

Third-party certifications

• Gold Standard
• Plan Vivo 
• Clean Development Mechanism 
• Agencies of the Swiss Government 

Projects

• Hydro Power
• Wind Power
• Biogas
• Biomass
• Energy efficiency 
• Solar waste management, etc. 

myClimate Has a wide variety of environmental impact options and different portfolios of carbon offsetting projects. They offer projects in about 45 different countries around the world.

They have created many jobs around the world with their carbon offset projects. They also have helped with education too, helping over 70,000 school children.

myClimte can help individuals with their carbon footprint and offsets, with homes, travel, transportation, and even events. Their carbon offset calculator will help you with the reduction of your carbon emissions. 

TerraPass

Third-party certifications 

• Gold Standard
• Verified Carbon Standard
• Climate Action Reserve
• CSA Group, etc. 

Projects 

• Landfill gas capture
• Wind power 
• Abandoned coal mines methane capture 
• Farm power
• BEF Water Restoration Certificate       

Terrapass has a subscription model for carbon offset programs for individuals and companies. With its Carbon Balanced Business Plan, companies and individuals can easily support carbon footprint projects.

They are one of the best carbon offset providers in the United States. The projects have a target of reducing carbon footprints of driving and travel energy consumption.

The carbon offset projects vary from wind power to methane capture, farming, and landfill gas capture. Most of their projects are focused on the United States.

You can purchase their carbon offset plans with their monthly subscription, and choose what specific events you want to purchase.

  Ecologi

Third-party certifications

• Gold Standard
• Verified Carbon Standard 

Projects 

• Forest restoration
• Renewable energy 
• Clean drinking water 
• Clean cookstoves 

Ecologi is focused on people and businesses to become climate positive. They are based in the United Kingdom. They offer a monthly subscription plan.

The carbon offsets that they focus on are forest restoration, renewable energy, eco cookstoves, and clean drinking water.

When you purchase carbon offsets from them, trees will be planted. They have tree planting partners such as One Tree Planted, Eden Reforestation, and Trees for the Future. These organizations plant millions of trees on a monthly bases.

their carbon offset program allows you to choose how many trees you would like to plant, and this will help to migrate climate change.

 Reforest’Action

Third-party certifications

• ECOCERT

Projects 

• Reforestation projects all over the world 

Reforest Action has planted over 20 million trees in various different countries around the world. They are based in France and were founded by Stephanie Hallaire in 2010.

The company aims to restore and preserve forests around the world. This will help humanity to enjoy the environmental benefits for now and in the future.

When you donate you can commit a monthly fee for planting trees, direct carbon offsets, or you can subscribe to a forest. When you purchase your carbon offsets, you will be supporting different reforestation projects. They have projects in Asia, Africa, North America, and South America 

 Clear

Third-party certifications

• Gold Standard
• Certified Emission Reduction Certificate 
• Quality Assurance Standards 

Projects 

• Renewable clean energy
• Methane capture
• Hydroelectric 
• Cookstove carbon offset projects  

Clear has achieved Quality Assurance Standards Certification for all of its carbon offset projects. the certification affirms that the 40-point checklist is of the highest carbon-negating standard.

they provide specific programs for carbon offsets. You will be able to calculate your own carbon offset from your home, vehicles, and travel.

Their commute carbon offset calculator will show you how much it will cost to offset your travel or commute. they work with clean energy projects, methane capture, hydroelectric, and cookstove offset programs.

  CarbonClick

Third-party certifications

• Gold Standard
• American Carbon Registry
• Verified Carbon Standard

Projects 

• Clean renewable energy 
• Forestry carbon offset project
• Wind power project 
• Biodiversity, etc

CabornClick has carbon offset projects that they take straight to individuals and companies, with a transparent and straightforward project to help the environment of the earth.

They are based out of New Zealand and they have successfully offset 38 million Kg of carbon dioxide with different offset programs. 

In the carbon offsets programs 50% of the fees go towards local forest regeneration or conservation projects, and the other 50% goes to high-impact international clean energy projects.

 GoClimate

Third-party certifications 

• Gold Standard 

Projects 

• Renewable energy project 
• Low GHG emissions project
• Biomass project
• Energy efficient cookstoves
• Solar projects, etc. 

Their carbon offset program is focused on slowing climate change. They have contributed to removing over 800,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere.

They offer monthly subscriptions, and gift cards, that companies and individuals can purchase. The projects include water filtration, landfill gas recovery, and cookstove projects.

 3Degrees

Third-party certifications

• Gold Standard
• Climate Action Reserve
• VCS

Projects 

• Forest management 
• Wind energy
• Energy efficiency 
• Carbon reduction 
• Biogas, etc. 

They are focused on helping business lower their carbon footprint. They are focused on global climate change. They help businesses to buy carbon offsets.

They also provide companies with energy and climate consulting services. The projects focus on carbon reduction and carbon removal.

They help with landfill gasses, sustainable forestry, and livestock manure management. They offset with commuting, business travel, and subsidize public transportation.

 Carbonfund

Third-party certifications

• Climate Action Reserve
• Gold Standard
• Social Carbon
• Climate, Community & Biodiversity Standard

Projects 

• Energy efficiency
• Forestry
• Renewable clean energy

They are based in the United States and are one of the best carbon offset providers. They are a nonprofit organization to help individuals, and businesses offset their carbon emissions.

Each American has 50,000 pounds of CO2, and they claim to have offset over 38 million pounds of carbon emissions, with over 250 projects that they represent.

They help individuals with offset programs to help them to lower emissions for homes, businesses, and travel. They have planted over one million trees.   

Cool Effect

Third-party certifications

• Verified Carbon Standard
• Climate Action Reserve 
• Gold Standard 

Projects

• Tree planting
• Clean cookstoves
• Methane capture
• Forestry 

They started out as a clean burning cookstove project, but they have grown and expanded to over 15 global projects all over the world.

they offer direct purchases to projects, but they also offer credits for travel and flights. the project they have focuses on tree planting, clean stove projects, and forestry.

When you donate with them you can choose from different carbon offset projects. More than 90% of every dollar goes towards these projects.

 atmosfair

Third-party certifications 

• Gold Standard 

Projects  

• Efficient cookstoves
• Solar energy
• Biogas and biomass
• Hydropower
• Environmental education 

They are a German-based non-profit organization, that aims to help to support sustainable travel while reducing carbon emissions.

The project that they support range from solar energy, biomass, eco-tourism, and development while they are reducing carbon emotions. You can donate monthly or quarterly to them.

  Treepoints

Third-party certifications

• Gold Standard
• Verified Carbon Standard 

Projects 

• Tree planting
• Reducing carbon
• Plastic recycling 

They make it easy for businesses and individuals to lower their carbon footprint with different offset programs, they are subscription-based programs.

They also offer a bulk buy program to offer lower prices. The projects they support are tree planting, plastic recycling, and reducing carbon.

 Carbon Checkout 

Third-party certifications

• Climate Action Reserve
• Verified Carbon Standard
• Gold Standard 
• Clean Development Mechanism 

Projects

• Solar energy
• Wind energy 
• Landfill gas capture 

They are software that eCommerce stores can use to help customers invest in carbon offsets while they are shopping. This help eCommerce brands to stand out.

They are in over 37 different countries, and they work with over 2000 eCommerce sellers. It is a user-friendly software, that is easy to use. the customers can choose their carbon offset contributions at their checkout.  They focus on renewable energy.

 EcoCRED

Third-party certifications 

• Verified Carbon Standard
• American Carbon Registry
• Climate Action Reserve 

Projects 

• Forest preservation
• Wildlife habitat enhancement
• Wind energy 
• Energy efficiency in schools 

this carbon offset program helps to reduce GHG emissions, for a carbon-free future. They offer services to different communities, and they have reduced more than 18 million KG of CO2.

When you invest with them, your donations will go towards projects such as forest preservation, and wind energy. their packages help individuals with their offsets for specific lifestyles.

Investing in Carbon Offset Programs

Reducing carbon emissions is the number one goal, but investing in carbon offset programs has many benefits that we can all help with.

When you purchase carbon offsets, you are helping to reduce harmful emissions from the earth, from the projects that you contribute to. This will help to neutralize your carbon footprint.

Your contributions will also help the developing nations, as they will provide wages and other social benefits.

These carbon offset programs can also help large corporations to lower their carbon emissions, and start to invest in clean sustainable energy, which will have even greater benefits in the long run.

Carbon Offsetting and Carbon Reduction

The reality of carbon offsetting is that you are paying an organization for carbon credits instead of lowering your own carbon emissions.

Of cause, the number one goal should be for everyone to lower their own carbon emissions, but carbon offsetting can defiantly help with climate change, environmental issues, and global warming.

Carbon offset projects are a great help, but to have the biggest impact, we need to focus on lowering all carbon emissions, and if we cut our carbon emissions, we will not need to have carbon offset.

In a perfect world, we would not need to have carbon offsetting, but while we need it, it can have a great impact on the world. When you invest in an offset program, you are helping to lower your carbon footprint and help with social and economical change in the developing world.

There are plenty of arguments for the effectiveness of carbon offset programs, but the overall effectiveness of these programs can have a huge effect on the climate of our planet.