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We pay a voluntary levy to offset all the carbon dioxide emissions resulting directly from our activities, as well as from the activities of the telecoms providers whose networks we use in the provision of our telephony service.
Our view is that, although offsets alone cannot solve the problem of global warming, and while there may on occasions be abuses in the way offsets are marketed, this does not invalidate their use in relation to emissions which we are unable to directly reduce (such as those of our suppliers).
So we have decided to continue to use offsets, while redoubling our efforts to reduce our own emissions where we can.
The levy is paid to Climate Care, which uses the funds to finance projects resulting in a sustainable reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, or in increased fixing of carbon from the atmosphere.
Examples of the projects supported include:
- the provision of subsidised low-energy light bulbs to people in South Africa, a country in which almost all electricity is generated from fossil fuel (this project also has the benefit of reducing poverty by cutting the electricity bills of low-income people)
- a programme to introduce more efficient cooking stoves in Honduras
- a project to restore natural rainforests in Uganda.
More about greener telecoms from The Phone Co-op
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