Two types of voluntary offsets are offered:

  • €15 for participants traveling from within the region (Europe and the Mediterranean), and
  •  €45 for participants traveling from other parts of the world.

This fee is based on the market price for premium carbon offsets and is an estimate of average GHG emissions both on-site and arising from return travel to Barcelona from different parts of the world.

Participants who make a voluntary purchase of an offset during the registration process will receive a Green Congress logo on their conference badges.

Those who wish to purchase additional offsets during the conference will have the opportunity to do so as well.

All IUCN staff, Council members, and sponsored delegates will purchase offsets to compensate for the GHG emissions associated with their travel to Barcelona.

All funds collected will go towards the Barcelona Carbon Offset Fund (BCOF), and will be invested in a credible, sustainable, and additional offset project offered by one or several IUCN members and/or partners. The Call for Proposals to nominate potential carbon offset projects is available here. The deadline for nominations was 15 July, 2008.

Based on the proposals received, the Congress Executive Committee selected an innovative mitigation project by the Climate Neutral Group that offsets CO2 emissions through a cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/cng_projectsheet_egypt.pdf.

An independent greenhouse gas assessment, conducted by ECCM, estimated that the event generated 7’934 tons of carbon dioxide equivalents.

With almost 7’000 delegates and staff attending from the four corners of the world, air travel to Barcelona represented the largest source of greenhouse emissions at close to 80% of the total. On-site, emissions remained marginal due notably to the high environmental standards of the conference venue.

Thanks to the support of participants and donors, the total estimated footprint of the Barcelona Congress was offset 100%. Contributions collected through the Barcelona Carbon Offset Fund were used to purchase from the Climate Neutral Group, the equivalent of 7’934 tons of CO2 equivalents from a CDM certified organic composting project in Sharkia, Egypt.