Carbon Coalition

The Carbon Coalition is an initiative for universities and colleges to purchase carbon credits for offsetting residual carbon emissions which can not be further reduced or as part of a net-zero plan to achieve a more ambitious target year.

Register Interest

To register interest in taking part in the Carbon Coalition for your offsetting requirements complete this form. Our next purchasing window is July 2023.

Overview

The EAUC Carbon Coalition is a consortium of UK and Ireland higher and further education institutions that have joined together to offset their emissions leveraging their combined buying power and knowledge.

The offsetting process will be achieved using a portfolio of credits provided by Appointed Verification Manager. There is an Advisory Board which is made up of experts, practitioners and scientists from the education sector. The Advisory Board agree the scoring criteria and methodology that offsetting projects are assessed against in order to become part of the Carbon Coalition Portfolio. The Offsetting Briefing, by the UK Universities Climate Network and EAUC, provides the principles for the scoring. We will evaluate the most sustainable, robust and cost-effective projects available which will become the Carbon Coalition Portfolio.

The goal is to provide the Carbon Coalition partners with a simple, robust offsetting menu of products that provides maximum value for money as well as providing confidence in the projects they are investing in. By utilising the expertise we have within our sector as the Advisory Board we can provide confidence to institutions in what is a very complex area. We have run a successful pilot with a small number of institutions.

National Framework Agreement

Following the successful pilot this is now a national framework, delivered jointly by LUPC and TEC, for UKUPC members, EAUC members and TEC members to benefit from. By utilising expertise through this framework, we can provide confidence to our members in what is a very complex area. The framework has confirmed Carbon Green Ltd as the awarded supplier for the Carbon Coalition. For further information click here. This ensures that institutions can have confidence when purchasing through the Carbon Coalition that it meets all procurement regulations. When you wish to purchase through the framework please quote Framework reference (PFB5078 LU).

Key Documents

View How does this work
View Latest Updates
View the Carbon Coalition Principles on Offsetting
View the Scoring Criteria and Methodology - coming soon
View the Portfolio and Costings - coming soon
View the Carbon Credits Explained
View the COP26 University Network and EAUC Offsetting Briefing
View the Advisory Board
View the Pilot
View the Oxford Offsetting Principles (Revised 2024)
View a Glossary of terms

Why are EAUC doing this?

Sector-wide initiative – recommendation from offsetting briefing
Collective purchasing power
Provide support to universities and colleges
Provide robust and credible projects to invest with confidence
Use experts and knowledge from the sector for the sector
Drive demand for permanent carbon capture & storage
Not reinventing wheels!

Benefits for the institution are:

Projects with additionality linked to the sector – research/community/local schemes
Institutions do not have the resources or expertise to review projects
Institutions can choose preferred projects from a menu
Sector showing leadership and pushing the offsetting sector
Confidence in a robust scheme – transparency for staff and students
Sharing good practice – strategies/policies, engagement techniques
Cheaper offset/carbon prices