Frequently asked questions

Certainly not! Offsetting CO2 by financing cookstoves and solar panels, provided they replace fossil-produced energy and are certified, is fine. Forest planting (forest compensation) can also be a way. Be alert to the quality of the organization that offers compensation; Will additional and sustainable forests really be planted with your money? And are the rights of the local population on the land that will now be used for forest plantings sufficiently taken into account? A good article about this is written by Friends of the Earth.

The most important thing is to realize that compensation does not mean that it is no longer necessary to reduce your own CO2 emissions. To achieve the Paris climate goals, we will have to significantly reduce our CO2 emissions worldwide. Because companies like to talk about compensation, there is a risk that they no longer make much of an effort to actually reduce CO2. Read about that for example this article of Milieudefensie. The climate cannot use that distraction. We cannot make it through compensation alone.

The European Commission introduced a Market Stability Reserve (MSR) in 2019 to remove the surplus of CO2 allowances from the market and ultimately destroy them if the reserve becomes 'too large'. The MSR came into effect in January 2019 and was further tightened in the last revision of the emissions trading system in 2022.

The question arises whether purchasing emission allowances is still necessary if there is now a system intended to remove those allowances from the market.

With the introduction of the MSR, we see that a realistic price for CO2 is being created on the market. A price that can finally really encourage companies to produce cleaner. Because the MSR is working better and better, removing rights from the market is actually becoming more effective; Buying CO2 rights can now immediately result in a higher CO2 price.

Unfortunately, the MSR does not solve everything. If the scarcity becomes too great, (part of) the removed CO2 rights from this fund can be allowed back onto the market. Moreover, billions of allowances will again become available on the market if European countries close their coal-fired power stations to meet climate targets, but do not destroy the emission allowances.

As long as the MSR is unable to eliminate the new surpluses, Carbonkiller will continue. We see the purchasing and destruction of emission allowances by individuals, companies and institutions as a good campaign tool. More social pressure remains necessary to ensure that the emissions trading system works better and that we achieve the Paris climate goals.

Absolutely! If you buy CO2 rights, you reduce the emission space for companies and you send an important political signal. You then show that citizens find it important that the system works, and that companies should emit less CO2.

It is important that many people, companies and institutions become involved in the system. Climate change affects everyone in society, so that is why you and I must also be part of the discussion surrounding emissions trading. Politicians must know that they cannot sit back, but that they have to work hard to ensure that the emissions trading system works much better very quickly. That is the biggest impact of your CO2 rights purchase.

Buying CO2 rights is not a direct form of CO2 compensation. It does give you the opportunity to pay a real price for your own CO2 emissions and to send a political signal.

The impact of permanently destroying emission rights depends on the number of people who buy CO2 rights and political adjustments to emissions trading. It would be fantastic if Europeans suddenly started buying up and destroying allowances en masse in order to send a signal and eliminate the large surplus of emission allowances. Hence our slogan “Buy out the Bubble!”.

Unfortunately, the dynamics of global trade and emissions trading are too complex to say that you compensate for CO2 when you buy CO2 rights. But if we create a scarcity of CO2 rights by purchasing emission rights and a campaign for an improved system, then every right you buy makes it more difficult for European companies to continue to emit CO2. The right you have purchased can no longer be purchased by a polluting company. This makes it more expensive for them to emit CO2, which gives them a financial incentive to emit less CO2.

In addition, the government must spend the income from the sale of CO2 rights on climate action (this will soon increase from 50 to 100% of the income). The price you pay for your CO2 right must therefore be spent on sustainability!

Instead of compensating, it is of course better to avoid emissions as an individual, but that is not entirely possible. When you drive a car, fly or eat meat or cheese, you emit CO2. With our tool you can calculate how much CO2 is linked to your behavior. You can then remove those tons of CO2 from the market and destroy them via our website.

Carbonkiller is an initiative of WISE (World Information Service on Energy), an environmental organization specialized in energy issues. WISE has been campaigning against nuclear energy and in favor of green energy since 1978. More information about WISE can be found at www.wisenederland.nl.

WISE is registered with the tax authorities as a Public Benefit Organization (ANBI). This means that WISE as an organization is committed to the public interest and that we do not have a profit motive. Every ANBI organization must meet a number of conditions, such as disclosure of specific information. This way you know that your money via Carbonkiller or your donation to WISE is going to the right place.

With Carbonkiller we mainly want to build pressure to make the emissions trading system (EU ETS) stricter. Before and behind the scenes, we are committed to more ambitious policies that work better for people and the climate. In addition, it would be fantastic if Europeans started buying up and destroying allowances en masse, in order to eliminate the large surplus of emission allowances. Hence our slogan “Buy out the Bubble!”

The Emissions Trading System is a European market in which a number of CO2-intensive sectors must purchase emission allowances for their production processes. The higher the price, the more interesting it becomes to become more sustainable. But there are far too many rights in circulation to really combat climate change. That is why Carbonkiller is the only one in the Netherlands to offer private individuals and SMEs the opportunity to purchase and destroy rights.

If you buy CO2 rights, you reduce the emission space for large polluting companies. Moreover, European governments will have to spend the income from the sale of rights on measures to combat climate change.

This is what we want to achieve:

By purchasing emission rights through Carbonkiller, we can send an important political signal: CO2 emissions must be paid a fair price. This way we can increase the pressure to improve the emissions trading system.