Frequently Asked Questions 

1. Do I have to be affiliated with a higher education institution to participate in offset peer review or The Offsets Lab?

The Offsets Lab and its resources have been developed by and for higher education institutions, but we regularly field requests from private-sector and non profit entities who are interested in innovating around carbon offsets. In general, the extent to which these interests are collaborative with the higher education community and with Second Nature, the higher the likelihood for involvement. To inquire about engaging with The Offsets Lab if you are outside of higher education, contact mleigh@secondnature.org.

2. Does my school have to be a Second Nature member to participate?

Not necessarily. If you represent an institution that is a member of Second Nature, you may absolutely participate. If your institution is not a member of Second Nature, please contact mleigh@secondnature.org to discuss either a pathway to membership, or a way for individuals within your institution to contribute to The Offsets Lab in exchange for participation opportunities for your school.

3. Why do you work with a project-type focus?

The offset market is changing rapidly, and facing many questions about integrity. Peer reviewed offsets were originally conceived as a way of facilitating the best assets of higher education to be of use in the space, while still providing avenues for campuses to create accessible carbon offset projects that integrate well with learning and research. After many years of doing this work, we have determined that we can better meet these goals with dedicated project type level focus. This approach better meets the capacity of our small staff and volunteer Executive Committee, allows us to perform a deeper dive on integrity issues within project types, and offer more robust resources to campuses more promptly. While we are limiting the type of projects we will focus on for specific periods of time, we believe this focus will allow us to better leverage higher education’s best assets for positive climate action, while still developing the policies and processes for high-integrity peer-reviewed carbon offsets.

4. How do you select the project types that you focus on?

We have an Executive Committee of carbon offset experts and higher education sustainability professionals that will work to identify the best project type to focus on based on the following criteria: 

• Scope of problem with project type in the Voluntary Carbon Market

• Potential for higher ed campus engagement with project type

• Potential for student engagement

• Potential to meet expressed interests/needs of research, or address sustainability strategy questions for multiple campuses

• Likelihood that expertise and capacity exists within Climate Leadership Network community to focus on the project type

5. How long will project type focus initiatives last?

The timeline for how long we focus on a specific offset project type will likely vary. This timeline will be based on the extent of the issues with current protocols governing the project type and the research needed to propose improvements, the various resources and barriers to project development on US campuses, and the time it takes to develop and implement projects of that type. The Executive Committee is mindful that the need for this work is urgent, and will strive to complete the main phases of each focus initiative within two academic years. However, we reserve the right to shorten or lengthen the timeline of the focus initiative as needed, and will work with participating academic experts and campus stakeholders to determine the appropriate timeline.

6. What are the different phases within the Project Type Focus Initiatives?

Because the focus on project type includes protocol improvement, project development, and peer review, each project type focus initiative will be divided into three phases to correspond with these deliverables. The phases are:

1. Recruitment and Protocol Phase: During this phase, existing protocols from the VCM, critiques of those protocols, ratings standards for those protocols will be assessed by participating campus faculty, partner outside experts (if applicable), and even student groups to determine the best practice methodology available on the VCM for the project type. The selected protocol will then be adapted to improve integrity and to increase accessibility and applicability to US higher education.

2. Project Design and Validation Phase: A group of campuses will be recruited to design and implement projects using the protocol. These projects will be peer validated to prepare them for peer-review of offsets

3. Peer Verification Phase: Campuses will peer review each other’s project data to verify carbon offsets from the projects.

7. What if my campus wants to develop a project that isn’t a fit for the current Project Type Focus Initiative? Am I out of luck?

We will continue to support peer review of offset project types that are outside of our project type focus initiative on a case-by-case basis. If the project type is one we have precedent for (ex: methane flaring, urban tree planting, food waste diversion) we are more likely to support project validation and review than if the project represents a type we do not have resources or the network to support. Contact mleigh@secondnature.org if you have a project proposal you’d like us to consider. Even if we cannot support you during a current project phase, knowing what project types are of interest to campuses will be important to us as we determine future focus initiatives.

8. What is peer verification?

Peer verification is an innovative process, originally conceived via The Offset Network, which has now evolved into The Offsets Lab. Offset projects and offset protocols developed by colleges and universities are verified by peer institutions rather than traditional, accredited verification firms. This engages the academic community in offset projects, provides educational opportunities for students, provides space for innovation within the offsets conversation, and removes the high cost barrier of offset verification. Peer verification may be an especially useful route to carbon offset generation for institutions developing small-scale projects, for which third party verification is too expensive and therefore infeasible.

9. Who can act as a peer verifier?

A peer verifier can be an individual or an institution. A peer verifier must be knowledgeable about the peer verification process and the basics of carbon accounting. Typically, the peer verifier is a faculty or staff member who acts as the adviser of students performing peer validation or peer verification— in which case they take responsibility for the final report and its robustness. To inquire about becoming a peer verifier, contact mleigh@secondnature.org

10. Can I sell carbon credits generated through peer verification?

Carbon offsets generated through peer verification are generally not sold, although partnerships between non profit organizations and higher education institutions to produce peer reviewed offsets have constituted offset sales. Regardless of whether a financial transaction occurs between partners, these credits are retired by the institution that developed and implemented the project.

11. Are carbon credits generated through peer review processes real?

Carbon credits generated through peer verification process are real. To ensure that the carbon emissions reductions or sequestrations actually occurred, the carbon offsets are verified by unbiased and certified peer verifiers. All verification materials are available to the public to increase transparency.

12. How can carbon offsets generated be used?

Carbon offsets generated through peer verification can be retired to offset Scope 3 emissions in a university or college’s emissions portfolio. Institutions that are signatories of one of the Presidents’ Climate Leadership Commitments can use the offsets towards their climate commitment. Second Nature currently recommends that peer-verified offsets only be used to offset up to a total of 30% of the campus emissions. Institutions can also use peer-verified offsets in their AASHE STARS reporting.

13. Is the Offsets Lab a GHG program?

A greenhouse gas (GHG) program has three core components to ensure the validity and legitimacy of carbon offsets generated. These components include: 1) accounting rules to ensure that offsets are “real” and to specify which project types can be developed or methodologies can be used, 2) monitoring, reporting, verification, and certification rules which ensure that projects perform as designed, and 3) registration and enforcement systems that track the ownership and retirement of offsets.

We are not currently considered a formal GHG program. Instead, we focus on helping institutions of higher education reach their climate goals by enabling carbon offset projects to occur, fostering protocol development, facilitating verification, and tracking credits generated. These services lower barriers that would prevent some institutions from developing carbon offset projects. Additionally, this work fosters innovation and workforce development through innovative project tracks; these can lead to the development of new protocols and new leaders in the carbon offset space.

14. Why do you need peer verification if we can buy verified carbon offsets?

Peer Verification allows institutions to create meaningful change in their local communities, engage students, and reduce costs of verification for institutions that want to develop their own carbon offset projects. Most colleges and universities use peer verification in conjunction with the purchase of verified carbon offsets.

15. What’s the difference between a REC and a carbon offset?

A carbon offset represents a metric ton of carbon equivalent greenhouse gas emissions reductions or sequestration. Carbon offsets (in general, not specifically peer verified offsets) may be used to offset Scope 1, 2, or 3 emissions. Conversely, a REC (Renewable Energy Credit) is a credit attributing that a MWh of power delivered to the grid was produced by renewable energy sources. A REC does not necessarily represent a quantified unit of GHG emissions reduction. Possessing a REC allows individuals or institutions to claim that they use electricity from renewable sources; purchase of RECs can reduce an organization’s Scope 2 emissions.

What is The Offset Network?

The Offset Network was the original name of Second Nature’s program that held the work of offset peer verification for higher education. That work has involved to include support for collective vetting and research, and is now called The Offsets Lab. If you are involved in peer verification processes, you may still use templates developed by and branded with The Offset Network logo.