Introduction

The Network's mission is to support the development of profitable Climate Cool™ innovations and partnerships and to help create a new marketplace in which caring for our children's future earth is an ever more visible and valuable part of consumer and company purchasing decisions.

See our more in-depth background on the Climate Neutral Network.

The Network's principal activities include:

• Certification:
  establishing certification and branding for Climate Cool™ products and enterprises based on design principles viewed as credible by a broad spectrum of stakeholders;
• Networking:
  promoting the bottom-line value of Climate Cool™ products to corporate and institutional purchasers to recognize and reward exemplary climate neutral innovations in the marketplace.

Certification

1. Create new powerful choices for consumers, employees and companies:

   Individuals and organizations can choose to invest in climate neutral products and services to offset their climate impacts as an optional, voluntary investment.

   These transactions can be facilitated at any point of purchase — through the companies, NGOs, or other organizations with whom they are affiliated.

2. Create new Climate Cool™ products:

   Climate Cool™ products or services are determined to completely offset the greenhouse gases generated across each stage of their life-cycle — including the sourcing of its materials, its manufacturing or production, its distribution, use, and ultimate end-of-life disposition.

   Climate Cool™ warranties would apply to products such as cars or appliances (which consume a lot of energy /fuel during use or have ambiguous lifetime durations) to cover the majority of emissions from both manufacturing and use (e.g. 60,000 miles for cars).

3. Empower new Climate Cool™ Enterprises:

   A company can choose to become a Climate Cool™ enterprise by offsetting the climate impacts of its internal operations across critical areas, including manufacturing, administration, transport of product to customers etc.

   A network "metrics system" paper is available to outline and help estimate these enterprise emissions.

   Companies can also offset individual components of its internal operations embracing climate neutral through a series of incremental steps to create a series of "ramp-up" options which maintain the integrity of the brand.

4. Maintain Credibility and Integrity of the Climate Cool™ Brand:

   Products or projects which would, in the view of the Network's board, undermine the credibility of the initiative or the integrity of the Climate Cool™ brand — due to inconsistencies with the purpose of the trademark/organization for example — may be refused the Climate Cool mark.

   The board reserves the right to refuse accreditation to any application that it concludes is not in the best interests of the brand. "Climate Cool™ hummers," for example, could pose such integrity problems!

5. Reward early movers:

   Given pending legislation regarding early action crediting, the Network reserves the right to refine these principles further at a later date to ensure that companies' early climate neutral commitments would not be undermined by any future regulatory requirements.

   A Climate Cool™ enterprise might therefore be able to draw upon its climate neutral investments to assure its compliance with new regulatory systems; climate neutral investments made way in excess of these compliance requirements would not be available to enable other companies to increase their emissions since they would be permanently retired.

   A Climate Cool™ enterprise should therefore be able to draw upon its climate neutral investments to assure compliance with new regulatory systems since our intentions are to go beyond compliance, provided future regulatory systems are designed accordingly.

   Reductions could be registered to protect companies' baselines in any future allocation system — but not to obtain saleable credits.

   Although the Network seeks to promote future regulatory compliance as a result of companies Climate Cool™ commitments, it cannot guarantee such compliance nor be held liable in any way for requirements or liabilities resulting from future regulatory systems.

6. Encourage tax benefits:

   The Network supports a proactive tax treatment for Climate Cool™ investments such that companies or individuals could benefit from appropriate tax deductions as a result of their investments — for example, by retiring them through donations to a not-for-profit — since this could increase the value of the benefits received.

   Companies seeking Climate Cool™ certification understand, however, that the Network cannot be liable for any future IRS rulings or interpretations in this regard.

Small Steps, Big Results

Climate Cool™ products or services reduce and offset the greenhouse gases generated at each stage of their life-cycle on a cradle-to-cradle basis: the sourcing of their materials, their manufacturing or production, their distribution, use, and ultimate end-of-life disposition. A company that chooses to become a Climate Cool™ enterprise agrees to reduce and offset all of the climate impacts for the full spectrum of its internal operations from the point at which raw materials are received to the point at which finished product is delivered. Companies can embrace these goals through a step-by-step process, offsetting first the emissions associated with individual activities, such as travel or energy purchases. The Climate Neutral Network has developed a straightforward metrics system to help companies build practical, credible estimates of the climate impacts resulting from their products or enterprises. Supplied with these numbers, companies can set realistic and profitable goals and take effective steps towards becoming good citizens of the earth and its atmosphere.

Why Participate?

Through the Climate Neutral Network, forward-thinking companies can obtain information to assist them in creating Climate Cool™ products, services, and enterprises. The Network's design principles — drafted in consultation with leading environmental groups such as NRDC, the Nature Conservancy and Rocky Mountain Institute — can help companies develop a portfolio of projects that are both scientifically sound, highly credible, and merit broad stakeholder support.

Getting Started

Steps to creating a new Climate Cool™ product, service, or enterprise:

• Figure out with the Climate Neutral Network how CNN's climate neutral certification can best benefit your company's bottom line
• Use CNN's metrics systems to calculate the current carbon emissions of your product or enterprise
• Develop a portfolio of greenhouse gas emissions reductions and offset investments that will zero out your baseline emissions
• Make application to be certified by the Climate Neutral Network's Environmental Advisory Board
• Use our brand on your certified products and in your advertising to educate consumers about your new status