Thank you for taking the time to explore Untonne. We hope we’ve answered all your questions here, but welcome an email or phone call if there is something you want to better understand.
What am I signing up for?
When you sign up with Untonne, we fund emissions reduction projects like clean cooking projects in developing countries. Clean cooking projects reduce the amount of natural resources required to cook and resulting emissions.
How does Untonne reduce emissions around the globe?
By working with our project partners, we fund projects like clean cook stoves. Around the world, about 2.5 billion people still rely on the equivalent of a campfire for cooking, using fuel like wood or charcoal. When a fuel efficient cookstove is installed, it can reduce the demand for fuel by about 50% or more. The fuel and emissions reductions from these stove installations are measured in labs and in the field, allowing Untonne to confidently quantify emissions reduction equal to or greater than your purchase.
What is a carbon offset?
A carbon offset is a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions or an increase in carbon storage equal to one metric tonne of carbon dioxide emissions. In the case of clean cookstoves, the emissions reduction can vary based on fuel type and stove type. As an example, a typical Untonne partner cook stove installation has an emissions saving benefit of approximately 10 metric tonnes (or 10 carbon offsets) or greater over a five year period.
What types of restoration efforts does Untonne support?
In 2022-2023, Untonne partnered with Eden Restoration to conduct tree planting throughout the multiple countries where they work. For 2024, Untonne will be selecting projects through 1% for the Planet.
Can I write off my membership on my taxes?
When you buy carbon offsets from Untonne, you are buying real products and not making a donation.
Is Untonne a non-profit organization?
Untonne is a mission-driven, for-profit organization. We believe that as a for-profit organization, we have more avenues available to nimbly scale the good work of our organization.
How many tonnes of carbon reduction come from Untonne’s restoration efforts?
First of all, remember that all restoration efforts are above and beyond your carbon offset plan. As such, we do not directly quantify the emissions reductions benefit or restoration efforts.
Are carbon offsets an excuse to continue polluting?
To solve climate change, we are advocates of an “all of the above” strategy. Climate change won’t be solved just by clean cook stoves or just by solar panels or just by electric vehicles - it will take a comprehensive approach to keep our planet within a 1.5 degree temperature change, as recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Untonne provides an easy solution to making a big impact to reduce carbon emissions today, but we would still urge you to take actions to directly lower your emissions and advocate for climate friendly policy at all levels of government.
How do we know that my subscription makes a real impact?
Every stove that Untonne funds has a real impact on the lives of the people who receive them in their homes. Because the stoves have been tested in a lab and the field to show emissions reductions, and ongoing stove use and performance is monitored, Untonne is confident that emissions reductions are really happening that are permanent. We seek to ensure that each carbon offset is a) additional, b) not overestimated, c) permanent, d) not claimed by another entity, and e) not associated with social or environmental harms.