In an era where environmental sustainability is not just a moral imperative but also a business necessity, corporations are increasingly scrutinized for their carbon footprint and their role in combating global warming. The dilemma at the heart of corporate climate finance is whether to offset carbon emissions through various strategies, such as investing in renewable energy, supporting carbon capture technologies, or engaging in reforestation efforts, among others.

To delve deeper into the topic, the EU Tech Chamber (EUTECH) Environment Alliance organised a webinar on February 09, where the topic under discussion was “Corporate Responsibility: Climate Finance Dilemma – To Offset or Not?”

The webinar started off with a short overview of the organisation and a formal introduction of the participants by Aimal Jehangir, coordinator of the Environment Alliance.

The keynote speaker for the event was Andrea Cantillo: Climate Advisor “Goclimate”.
The rest of the panellists were:

· Michael Mathres: Chief Marketing officer “ITMO Ltd”
· Gaby Glasener-Cipollone 🌿-Cipollone: Managing Director “Cirrus Consulting”
· Mark Kane 🌍💡: Co-Founder Sustainabil-IT “Accelerating Sustainability through Technology”

The webinar firstly aimed to address the climate journey, comprising of the carbon footprint calculation, targets to work towards, emission reductions, and communication and engagement. The concept of “offsetting” was also discussed, including avoidance and removal projects, each with the goal to reduce emissions (albeit it via prevention or reduction).

Financing this aspect of climate action was the next topic touched upon, whereby having an integrated climate action work process seemed to be the best course of action agreed upon. Another few factors to consider were deemed to be the investment in CDR (carbon dioxide removal), carbon offsetting and in-company reductions. The various levels of feasibility were also discussed in terms of their importance to properly assess, including, institutional, technological, economic and socio-cultural feasibility.

Overall, we want to thank our respectable speakers for their informed presentations and discussions on this vital and relevant topic. Moreover, special thanks to Aimal Jehangir for moderating the webinar and distributing Tree-Certificates to each of the panellists.

The unwavering support of our board members, Katrin Schumacher, Mr. Bahman Hamedebarghi, plays a pivotal role in the success of our initiatives. Your dedication and commitment are truly valued.