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The Impact Shop is now open

This one’s been a while in the works. After months of hard graft and fine tuning we couldn’t be more excited to announce that our new Impact Shop is launched and ready to use. 
The Impact Shop is our new store for positive climate impact, letting you fund climate solutions your way. The online storefront is based solely around impact. It allows you to quickly and easily make a purchase for the planet, and support whatever project means the most to you. 
Anyone with an Ecologi account can use the Impact Shop and no monthly subscription is needed for businesses.
<a href="https://ecologi.com/impact-shop" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Check out the Impact Shop</a> 🌿

The Impact Shop is totally flexible. With a wide range of projects to choose from, you can support what feels right for you and fund as little or as much as you like, anytime. And because all projects are carefully selected by our in-house climate impact specialists, you can be sure you&#8217;re making the maximum impact. If you’re proud of the impact you’re making and want to inspire others to do the same, you can also create your own impact profile to share your good work.
The Impact Shop works hand in hand with <a href="https://ecologi.com/business/zero" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ecologi Zero</a>, our free carbon footprinting tool for small and medium-sized enterprises. If you use Ecologi Zero to calculate your footprint, you can help mitigate your emissions by funding climate solutions through the Impact Shop as you go. In time, we’ll also be introducing the option to purchase carbon removal credits to account for your unavoidable emissions and support your net-zero journey. You can find out more about Ecologi Zero <a href="https://ecologi.com/articles/in-depth/zero-faqs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

We’ve got a wide variety of certified projects to choose from in the Impact Shop, with more coming soon. While the biggest impact you can make is to reduce your own emissions, these projects all provide complementary climate solutions to avoid greenhouse gas emissions, restore nature, and support local communities.

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At Ecologi, we firmly believe that trees are a little bit of magic and tree planting is an excellent way to restore the planet. In fact, we recently hit the milestone of funding over 50 million trees globally through our trusted reforestation partners. So it&#8217;s no surprise that we’ll have tree planting available on the Impact Shop so you can fund incredible reforestation projects too.
The trees you purchase will be planted across a range of amazing projects supported by Ecologi, providing vital habitat for biodiversity and supporting the lives of local people. We plant trees all around the world, from Scotland to Madagascar, Peru to Morocco, and Ecologi users can choose to plant trees in the UK, US or Australia specifically. Once you&#8217;ve purchased your trees, you’ll be able to head to your virtual forest to see your new tree tiles, which will give you more information about the reforestation projects and <a href="https://ecologi.com/articles/blog/get-to-know-our-reforestation-partners" target="_blank" rel="noopener">planting partners</a>. 
Responsible reforestation is incredibly important to us. We only plant ecologically-appropriate trees where they are needed most, and our partners coordinate with local communities to make sure they’re protected from outside threats (both natural and man made). Planting trees provides an incredible number of benefits for mitigating climate change and supporting human health. You can read more about our approach to <a href="https://ecologi.com/articles/in-depth/responsible-reforestation-faqs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">responsible reforestation on our blog</a>.

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Nature-based carbon avoidance projects prevent the degradation of natural habitats. By supporting nature-based projects, carbon is locked away and habitats vital to the survival of endangered species are protected. These projects could include forest protection, peatland protection or restoration projects, for example. Supporting the conservation of natural carbon stores <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-020-0491-z" target="_blank" rel="noopener">such as soil</a> is key to slowing climate change. 
Nature-based projects also improve quality of life for surrounding communities. By managing natural habitats in a sustainable way, these projects can introduce new streams of income for local people and fund a variety of additional education and healthcare projects.
The nature-based projects you can support via Ecologi are all certified by either the <a href="https://www.goldstandard.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gold Standard</a> or the <a href="https://verra.org/project/vcs-program/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Verified Carbon Standard</a> (VCS). Projects certified by VCS which bring significant co-benefits to the local people and nature are also certified by Verra’s <a href="https://verra.org/project/ccb-program/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standard</a> (CCBS) standard. On top of this, we only ever support projects that contribute to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, such as the <a href="https://ecologi.com/projects/preventing-deforestation-in-the-democratic-republic-of-congo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mai N&#8217;dombe REDD+ Project</a>, which is supporting no less than eight goals.

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The energy sector is a key contributor to climate change. Globally, <a href="https://www.bp.com/content/dam/bp/business-sites/en/global/corporate/pdfs/energy-economics/statistical-review/bp-stats-review-2022-full-report.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fossil fuels accounted for 82% of primary energy use</a> in 2021. The shift to renewable energy is one of the top solutions we have for tackling climate change as it provides a safe and clean source of power without the heavy emissions caused by fossil fuels. 
All renewable energy projects supported by Ecologi are of the highest quality and certified according to the <a href="https://www.goldstandard.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gold Standard</a> or the <a href="https://verra.org/project/vcs-program/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Verified Carbon Standard</a>. We only offer renewable energy projects that contribute to as many of the UN&#8217;s Sustainable Development Goals as possible, such as Good Jobs and Economic Growth, Innovation and Infrastructure, and of course Climate Action.
Renewable energy projects supported by Ecologi so far include wind, solar, waste biomass, landfill gas capture, and small hydropower projects. If you’re keen to support the spread of renewable energy across the planet, you can choose to fund carbon avoidance credits from renewable energy projects through the Impact Shop.

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Improving livelihoods through community-based projects may not seem like an obvious climate solution. But delivering clean water removes the need for boiling dirty water, saving on fuel and emissions. And providing efficient cookstoves reduces the amount of wood and charcoal burned for fuel, bringing down greenhouse gas emissions. 
On top of the environmental benefits, these projects directly improve people’s day-to-day lives. Some of these projects support no less than <a href="https://ecologi.com/projects/cookstoves-tanzania" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nine Sustainable Development goals</a>! If you want to take climate action while improving quality of life for the local people, then this project type is for you.
Keep in mind that, like all our carbon avoidance projects, the community-based projects we support are accredited by either the <a href="https://www.goldstandard.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gold Standard</a> or the <a href="https://verra.org/project/vcs-program/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Verified Carbon Standard</a>, so you can be confident that the projects you’re supporting are of the highest quality. But don’t just take our word for it, check out the linked project pages in the storefront, which go into great detail about each initiative and its credentials.

Getting started couldn’t be easier. Just visit our website and create a pay-as-you-go account, no monthly subscription is required. From there, you’ll be able to browse our storefront and buy impact at the click of a button. Once purchased, the impact will be added to your online profile, giving you an overview of all your climate action. 
We hope you find our Impact Shop enjoyable and rewarding to use. Keep an eye out for new projects coming soon, including marine, biochar and wildflowers projects.   
<a href="https://ecologi.com/impact-shop" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Check out the Impact Shop</a> 🌿

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UK Voluntary Carbon Market Guide: Best Practices for Climate Action

The voluntary carbon market plays an important role in corporate climate strategies – but its effectiveness relies on buyers doing due diligence and rigorous quality assessment on each project, as well as placing the purchase of credits in the right place in the climate journey.
To ensure meaningful climate impact, businesses must develop a comprehensive carbon strategy and find ways to fund only high-quality credits in the voluntary carbon market – and this guide shows you how to do so with Ecologi.

<h2>Table of contents</h2>
<ul>
<li>When to buy carbon credits</li>
<li>Our new carbon projects assessment framework</li>
<li>Ecologi&#8217;s core due diligence principles</li>
<li>How Ecologi scores and ranks carbon credit projects</li>
<li>Questions to ask your carbon credit supplier</li>
<li>Take action in the voluntary carbon market</li>
</ul>

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<h2>When should businesses buy carbon credits in the voluntary market?</h2>
Businesses must not use credits in place of making direct, measurable reductions in their emissions. Instead, follow these steps to ensure you buy your carbon credits on the right step of your corporate climate action journey, and in the right way:
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Measure your emissions first – to allow you to understand where your business’s emissions are coming from. 
</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Set science-based targets and work towards them – set ambitious targets aligned with the SBTi and compatible with the global 1.5ºC warming target.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Beyond value chain mitigation (BVCM) – design your BVCM portfolio to work alongside your decarbonisation plan and address your unabated emissions in each reporting year. Align it with SBTi guidance and the Oxford Principles. </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Buy high-quality carbon credits – use this guide to ensure the carbon credits you buy meet rigorous quality standards. Remember, under the SBTi framework you’ll also need permanent carbon removal credits for neutralising your residual emissions when you reach your net-zero date.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Disclose and report transparently – publicly disclose information about your carbon credit purchases, and clearly communicate the limited role of carbon credits in your broader sustainability strategy.</li>
</ol>

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<h2>Ecologi&#8217;s carbon project assessment framework</h2>
In April 2025, we published a report summarising how we assess carbon credit projects against our rigorous proprietary rubric. A snapshot of what goes into our carbon credit project assessment is below, or you <a href="https://cms-assets.offset.earth/app/uploads/20250428124112/Ecologi_Whitepaper_A4.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">download the full whitepaper here</a>.

<h2>Carbon project due diligence: Ecologi’s core principles</h2>
At Ecologi, we maintain general due diligence principles which we apply universally across the voluntary carbon market, to support our efforts to supply only high-quality carbon credits.
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">ICROA-endorsed standards only – we supply credits exclusively from carbon standards which are ICROA-endorsed.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Responsive to ICVCM decisions – we support the ICVCM’s two-tick approach to providing CCP-Approval to project methodologies, and we go further still, to assess individual projects on their merits and limitations as well.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Keep the carbon credit life cycle as short as possible – 75% of our credits in 2024 came directly from project developers and their nominated dispensaries (as opposed to intermediaries on the secondary market), maximising the proportion of purchase price which goes to the developer.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Locally-appropriate projects only – we take care to ensure that supported projects are being applied in appropriate geographies, where they can have the greatest impact.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Deep project-level scrutiny – our extensive assessment criteria are specific to each type of project, and we assess every project against these criteria, ensuring the project’s specifics have been taken into account.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Methodological consensus – we synthesise data we receive from our partners Sylvera, BeZero Carbon, Calyx Global and Renoster) with our own in-house analysis to uncover where there is consensus about project quality, and improve confidence.</li>
</ul>

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<h2>How to evaluate carbon credits: Ecologi&#8217;s scoring methodology</h2>
We designed a three-layer assessment process which takes into account the merits and limitations of the carbon standard used, the carbon credit methodology used, and of the individual project design.
The tables below summarise some of the data inputs we use at each stage.

<h3>Assessment level: Carbon Standard</h3>
Examples: Gold Standard, Verra, Puro Earth, Isometric, Plan Vivo.

<h3>Assessment level: Methodology (or ‘Protocol’)</h3>
Examples: GS TPDDTEC, VM0048, ACM0002.

<h3>Assessment level: Project</h3>
Examples: GS 10790, VCS 1571.

Criteria in the assessment are categorised as either quality criteria or risk criteria, and are segmented by our three pillars of impact: Climate, Nature and People. Based on how it meets each criterion, the project gains points for quality criteria, and loses points for excess risk – ultimately giving a risk-adjusted value out of 100 for each of these pillars.
Having gathered our risk-adjusted pillar scores, we use our own unique scoring formula which weights the risk-adjusted Climate score of the project equally with the combined risk-adjusted Nature and People scores. The formula then produces an ‘overall’ score (also out of 100) for the project. In order to be supplied by Ecologi, projects must meet a minimum overall score of 80, and must achieve no lower than 65 in any given risk-adjusted pillar score.

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<h2>Key questions to ask carbon credit suppliers</h2>
Selecting the right carbon credit provider is important to help guide you to make informed choices as part of your corporate sustainability strategy. Before purchasing carbon credits, businesses should ask:
<h3>Project quality </h3>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Do you assess/validate/underwrite project quality? If so, how?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Do your projects get good ratings from the ratings agencies? If so, what ratings are they?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Do you source credits directly from project developers, or from the secondary market?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Do you monitor projects over time to ensure continued success, and how do you remedy it, if a project&#8217;s quality drops?</li>
</ul>
<h3>Due diligence</h3>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">How do you ensure you are supporting the right projects in the right locations?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">How do you account for project permanence and mitigate risks?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">What makes your projects additional?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">How do you assess the project&#8217;s impacts on climate, nature and people?</li>
</ul>
<h3>Positioning</h3>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">How do you contribute to the development of a high integrity voluntary carbon market?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Do you align your portfolios with the Oxford Principles? If so, how?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">How do you reflect ICVCM guidance on carbon credit methodologies and technologies?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Do you build multi-year portfolios that align to mid- &amp; long-term SBTs?</li>
</ul>
As the voluntary carbon market evolves, corporate buyers have the power and the responsibility to demand high-impact credits to drive real climate progress. This means buyers have a responsibility to do due diligence before placing an order for carbon credits.

<h2>Take action in the voluntary carbon market</h2>
As a business committed to corporate climate action, understanding the voluntary carbon market is essential for making informed decisions about carbon credits. Our comprehensive whitepaper provides deeper insights into creating an effective sustainability strategy.
<a href="https://cms-assets.offset.earth/app/uploads/20250428124112/Ecologi_Whitepaper_A4.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Download our full whitepaper</a> to learn how your business can navigate the voluntary carbon market with confidence.

<h2>Connect with one of our climate experts</h2>
Please complete our form to arrange a 30-minute discovery call to discuss your goals and get a tailored solution for your business.

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It’s not all bad. While there’s a lot of negative news about the climate, let’s not forget the good stuff. Find climate wins, reasons to be hopeful and plenty of positivity in our good news timeline.

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