Carbon Neutral
Climate change is an existential threat to life as we know it. The global economy must decarbonize rapidly if we hope to limit warming to a level to which humanity can adapt.
Change Finance is proud to be a part of the solution. Our Certified Carbon Neutral Fund and SMA Products are the first of their kind and allow investors to simultaneously accomplish two previously contradictory goals: seek wealth creation through the capital markets and sequester the greenhouse gases whose accumulation in our atmosphere threatens our future prosperity.
The Voluntary Carbon Market
As a financial company, the vast majority of the carbon emissions associated with Change Finance reside in our investment portfolios. Every company we invest in has a carbon footprint. Consequently, we own a small portion of each company’s greenhouse gas emissions. Since we have limited control over the emissions of large multinational companies, we must sequester the emissions for which we are responsible if we are to achieve our goal of carbon neutrality. We can accomplish this through participating in the nascent and growing voluntary carbon market, a mechanism that allows us to remove carbon from the atmosphere by purchasing certified carbon credits.
Step 1:
Carbon Footprinting
The Carbon Footprint of our portfolio is a measure of how much carbon we are responsible for. To calculate it, we must accurately determine how much Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions each company in our portfolio is responsible for. We assume responsibility for a share of emissions proportional to the share of the company owned by our portfolio. To calculate the total carbon footprint for our portfolio, we add up our share of the carbon footprint of each company in the portfolio.
Calculating Portfolio Carbon Footprint
∑
current value of investment
issuer’s market capitalization
x
issuer’s scope 1 & 2 greenhouse gas emissions
Our Partner
Change Finance partners with the sustainable finance platform, Verity Platforms. Verity utilized data from the Carbon Disclosure Project combined with AI-enabled insights to provide us with accurate, reliable, rigorously analyzed carbon footprint calculations quarterly.
Photo Credit: Grassroots Carbon
Step 2:
Sequester Carbon the Right Way
Voluntary carbon markets are unregulated and low-quality carbon offsets (also known as carbon credits) are pervasive. Change Finance seeks carbon credits from projects with the highest potential for true sequestration, a focus on enhancing biodiversity, and the ability to support marginalized people.
Carbon Credits: What to Look For
Rigorous Testing
Additionality
Permanence
Double Counting
Our Partner
We seek to offset our portfolio’s carbon footprint by purchasing carbon offset credits from Grassroots Carbon. Grassroots removes carbon from the atmosphere and stores it in the soil through regenerative grazing. Grassroots’ network of regenerative ranches help us mitigate climate change, enhance grassland ecosystems, and empower neglected rural communities. Grassroots carbon credits are independently measured and certified by BCarbon to ensure that they are durably sequestering the amount of carbon claimed.
Step 3:
Certification
Greenwashing is unacceptable. To ensure that when we say carbon neutral, we really mean carbon neutral, Change Finance utilizes an additional third-party certifier different from both the partner that calculates our carbon footprint and from the partner that provides our carbon offsets. This independent certification ensures that our portfolios are genuinely carbon neutral and not contributing to the climate crisis.
YTD Carbon Sequestered:
1,423 tonnes
as of 11/30/2022
Our Partner
EthosESG is an environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data provider committed to enabling every investor to understand the impact of their investments. One way they do that is to provide Carbon Neutral Certification for investment products that meet their rigorous carbon neutrality standards. After an exhaustive audit, Ethos ESG made Change Finance’s portfolio the first ever to receive the Certified Carbon Neutral Fund designation.
The Impact of Investing Carbon Neutral
Invest Carbon Neutral
Restore our Grasslands
Fight the Climate Crisis
Change Finance
Impact on Climate:
Sequester Carbon in Soil
Change Finance seeks to sequester the carbon emissions associated with its investment portfolios through regenerative agriculture and ranching.
- Carbon Sequestered per $100,000 Invested: 1.43 tonnes
- YTD Carbon Sequestered: 1,423 tonnes
- Total Carbon Sequestered: 1,658 tonnes
as of 11/30/2022
Impact on Biodiversity:
Restore Grassland Ecosystems
Change Finance sequesters carbon through Grassroots Carbon, a network of ranchers implementing regenerative grazing practices that minim natural cycles, restore grassland ecosystems, and enhance biodiversity.
- US Land Devoted to Grazing: 40%
- Ranchers Using Regenerative Grazing: less than 5%
- Grassroots Carbon Network: 4,000,000+ acres
Impact on People:
Empower Rural Communities
Grassroots Carbon empowers marginalized groups including women, indigenous peoples, and ranchers of color, ensuring that good stewards of the land are compensated fairly for the public service they provide.
- Lower Input Costs & Increased Forage Growth
- 80% of the profit from every carbon credit purchased goes directly to ranchers
- Equal or better working conditions for ranchers