“At the advent of steam and electricity, the muse of history holds her nose and shuts her eyes.” –H.G. Wells 1918

At an individual level, humanity has progressed further and further into a more ecological mindset—giving rise to environmentalism. But businesses and industrial society have been slow to catch up with regard to how they behave in the world. Sustainable business practices are inching their way into startups & so-called “woke” organizations.

There are now many affordable and scalable solutions available to businesses who are getting on board the environmentalist (eco) train, and they might just enable us to secure cleaner, more sustainable economies.

Carbon Offset Schemes

Business efforts to get in sync with the complexity of Nature will require complex solutions. Supporting projects with diverse solutions is one of the ways in which businesses can become environmentally friendly. Many organizations are dedicated to delivering custom sustainable development and climate programs for hundreds of companies by helping them offset their residual carbon emissions and deliver positive environmental and social impact while maintaining positive business outcomes.

Carbon offset schemes allow individuals and companies to invest in environmental projects around the world. The projects are usually established in developing countries and are designed to reduce future emissions. This might involve rolling out clean energy technologies or purchasing and ripping up carbon credits from an emissions trading scheme. Other schemes work by soaking up CO₂ directly from the air by implementing mass tree-planting projects.

Some people and organizations offset their entire carbon footprint while others aim to counterbalance the impact of a specific activity, such as taking a flight. This is done by the individual visiting an offset website and using the online tools to calculate the emissions of their trip, and then paying the offset company to reduce emissions everywhere in the world by the same amount—in this way making the flight “carbon neutral.”

Our Contribution

At Proctorio, we have committed to doing our part by offsetting 100% of carbon emissions by supporting the Matebe Hydroelectric Plant in Virunga, Congo; home to Africa’s oldest national park and one of the last mountain gorilla populations in the world.

This means that taking a test with Proctorio is completely carbon neutral!

The Matebe Hydroelectric Plant is helping to offset carbon emissions caused by the burning of fossil fuels, and the illegal trading of coal. This clean energy project is also improving the lives of people in Virunga by replacing the use of expensive and toxic fossil fuels and is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in the following ways:

The Matebe Hydroelectric Plant is contributing to the quality education of Virunga’s students by providing access to clean electricity. With access to this energy, students are able to read and study after dark. With affordable and clean energy, Matebe is providing electricity to 600,000 people through a local micro-grid. Clean energy is helping to create sustainable cities and communities by making villages safer because of street lighting. Finally, the Matebe Hydroelectric Plant is supporting life on land by preserving the biodiversity and landscape of Virunga National Park.

Conclusion

Without offsetting carbon, we will not achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The world is in dire need of sustainable business practices, and we owe it to future generations to take immediate action. Proctorio is doing its part to promote and ecological mindset among businesses and to make our communities stronger, safer and more resilient.