Carbon Project Checker

Carbon accounting is measuring the greenhouse gas emissions a business is responsible for, in tonnes of CO2 equivalent, and attributing them to Scope 1, 2 and 3 under the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. It is the basis for a reduction target, for reporting, and for working out what is genuinely left to offset. Evertreen builds a GHG Protocol-aligned inventory from your real activity data, free.

Scope 1 is direct emissions from fuel you burn. Scope 2 is the energy you buy. Scope 3 is everything else in your value chain, including procurement, business travel, cloud and commuting, and it is usually the largest of the three by a wide margin. A credible net zero claim has to account for all three, not the first two.

Ask four questions about the project behind it: would the outcome have happened anyway (additionality), is the baseline it is measured against realistic (over-crediting risk), will the carbon stay stored (permanence), and has anyone independent examined it. This checker answers all four for any registry reference, with a source link on every finding.

It depends entirely on the project type. Avoidance credits from forestry are typically the cheapest, and durable removals such as biochar or direct air capture are the most expensive, by orders of magnitude. Price is not a proxy for quality, which is why this checker rates the project rather than the price. Evertreen publishes per-tree and per-package prices rather than asking you to book a demo to see them.

It is a summary of what the public record shows, not a verdict on the project's worth. The bands run from limited concerns identified to serious concerns identified, plus insufficient public information, which is a common and honest outcome for projects nobody has examined publicly.

A removal credit represents CO2 taken out of the atmosphere, for example by planting trees or by direct air capture. An avoidance credit represents emissions a project says would otherwise have happened, for example deforestation that was prevented. They are different products with different risks, and every profile labels which one a project issues.

Verra (VCS), Gold Standard (GS), the American Carbon Registry (ACR), the Climate Action Reserve (CAR), ART, Puro, Plan Vivo and Isometric. Type the reference in any form: VCS 3018, VCS-3018 and vcs3018 all resolve to the same project.

Absorption depends on the species and the project and follows recognised methodologies. As a rule of thumb a mature tree absorbs about 22 kg of CO2 a year, a figure published by the USDA Forest Service. For audited claims we provide VERRA-verified carbon credits rather than an estimate.

Monthly planting matches your ongoing emissions and spreads the cost, which suits offsetting operations. A one-off plant suits compensating last year's footprint, an event or a campaign. Both plant real trees, both appear on your dashboard, and you can combine or change them at any time.

No, and any provider who says otherwise is selling greenwash. Reduce what you can first, then offset the residual you cannot eliminate yet. That is why the reporting shows both sides: the source breakdown tells you where to cut, and your forest covers what remains.

You can cancel a monthly plan at any time, and there are no contracts. Every tree already planted stays in the ground, keeps absorbing CO2, and remains on your dashboard and certificates.

Because you can check it. Every finding names its source and links to it, the weighting behind every band is published, and where we sell something connected to a project we are assessing, the page says so on the page itself. We also show our own products underneath each assessment, clearly labelled, so you know exactly where our commercial interest lies.

Request a correction. Tell us the statement you dispute, what the correct position is, and the evidence. We respond within 10 working days.