2. Staff briefing on Carbon Offsets — original pdf

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Carbon Offsets at the City of Austin Joint Sustainability Committee • January 28, 2026 Phillip Duran Agenda 01 What are carbon offsets? 02 Carbon offsets at the City of Austin 03 How and why we use them 04 Next steps and opportunities 2 A refresher - What are carbon offsets? • Voluntary carbon market • One carbon offset → one tonne of carbon avoided or captured elsewhere • If done correctly, supports good projects that might not otherwise happen • Registries and standards verify when it’s “done correctly” E.g. Green-E, American Carbon Registry, Verra, Gold Standard, Intergrity Council of the Voluntary Carbon Market, more 3 Types of Carbon Offsets Technology based solutions Renewables, energy efficiency, methane or even direct air carbon capture Nature based solutions Tree planting, land management and improvement, sustainable agriculture and soil carbon 4 Types of Carbon Offsets Old or low quality ~$1 per tonne Old offsets, before standards and verification Quality and value $15-$30, up to $100 per tonne Established tech or nature solutions - Austin participates here Emerging technology $1,000 per tonne Direct air capture. Might make sense for high profile buyers 5 Carbon Offsets at the City of Austin History and our approach 6 What’s in the Climate Equity Plan Reduce carbon emissions FIRST For emissions that are difficult to reduce, prioritize offsets that are: 1. From projects as close to the Austin area as possible. 2. From projects that create additional environmental and equity benefits. 3. Carbon offsets from negative emissions should be prioritized over avoided emissions. 7 Our Motivation Net-zero by 2040 – Climate Equity Plan 2007 Resolution to make City operations carbon neutral by 2020 In pursuit of both goals, we urge all City projects to attain high levels of sustainability certification (LEED, AEGB, SITES, Envision, etc) • Better projects • Higher engagement in climate and resilience efforts • Means we’re integrating and operationalizing sustainability as much as possible Sometimes carbon offsets are part of the certification and accreditation process. 8 Examples of Carbon Offset Purchases Austin Energy HQ LEED Platinum Facility Green-E Certified offsets for 5 years of operations Austin Airport (AUS) Airport Carbon Accreditation Green-E Certified offsets or better Austin Convention Center LEED Facilities Participates with other buyers to maximize purchasing power Climate Action & Resilience Support parterns in pursuit of climate goals City Forrest Credits in collaboration with TreeFolks 9 Opportunities and Next Steps 1 0 Promote sustainable commuting – GetThereATX and CarbonCred 2 0 Work to offer visitors or event hosts opportunity to support local climate action 3 0 Consider refrigerant capture and destruction to develop local carbon offsets 4 0 Explore additional options like City-led technology or nature based solutions 10 Thank you Phillip Duran AustinTexas.gov/climate Phillip.duran@austintexas.gov City of Austin Operational Carbon Footprint 12 About the Plan Net-zero by 2040 | Adopted in September 2021 5 sections 17 goals 75 strategies Sustainable Buildings Transportation & Land Use Transportation Electrification Food & Product Consumption Natural Systems 13