Live Climate
Connecting Voluntary Carbon Markets to Community Development
Growing concern over climate change has caused the voluntary carbon market to grow over 200% since 2005. This growing commodity market represents a valuable new source of financing for sustainable development. Hundreds of projects across the developing world reduce emissions of greenhouse gases while also alleviating poverty, improving community health, and revitalizing the local environment. These projects are eligible to receive and sell carbon credits. However, the costs of entering the formal carbon markets are so high that poverty-alleviating clean development projects are typically overlooked by the carbon market altogether.
In response, a group of business school students from UC Berkeley created LiveClimate.org (www.liveclimate.org)—a direct internet sales channel that links greenhouse gas offset projects in low-income countries with buyers who value the social and environmental impact of their carbon offsets. The goal of this project is to enable everyone to support carbon offset projects that have positive impacts on local people, communities and environments. The user interface includes detailed information about the project, community and quantitative and qualitative impacts. In its first year of operation, Live Climate achieve 501c3 nonprofit status, developed and overhauled the website and began developing its retail portfolio with additional carbon offset projects. Now in its second year of operation team members are launching a major publicity/fundraising campaign while simultaneously identifying and expanding its portfolio of projects
Lead Researchers: Matt Evans, MBA Student, Haas School of Business, 2008; Jit Bhattacharya, MBA Student, Haas School of Business, 2008
Partners: The Rosenfeld Fund For Global Sustainable Development
Field Locations: Carbon offset projects in multiple locations
Google has unveiled its sustainable bus which will be driven across country on 99% biodiesel and is powered by solar panels on the roof. Google has joined forces with Live Climate in order to offset the five tons of carbon emissions released by biodiesel combustion.
