Verus Carbon Neutral sells carbon offsets and the first thing people ask us is: “Why are your offset prices so low?” We don’t think our prices are low relative to the market price. You see, carbon offsets are a commodity; much like corn, soybeans or oil. If the market price drops our price drops.

Then we get asked: “Are your offsets as good other providers?” First of all, we only sell Offsets that are certified and verified by, and registered with, the Chicago Climate Exchange. Secondly, it’s important to note that when the Environmental Defense Fund recommended twelve offset projects in 2008, seven were listed on the Chicago Climate Exchange. We offer project specific offsets to business clients, as they are easier to market/explain to stakeholders.

It’s not surprising that the final question is usually: “Why does your competition charge more?” It’s simple, because they can. If I went to a farmer and said that I will buy a bushel of corn for market price plus $1, he should sell to me all the corn that I can buy. If I can find a buyer who will pay me five times the market price then I will sell it to them. This is a great trick if the market is opaque. The trick vanishes when the market becomes more transparent. The farmer may be annoyed but the buyer will be livid!

Our pricing model is simple CCX Market Price + $0.05 exchange fee + 20% premium — simple, transparent and easy to understand. We have the lowest priced offsets in the world, just check Carbon Catalogue

Verus Carbon Neutral likes transparency because it builds confidence in the market. We lower our portion of the offset price so that more funding goes to projects. Our hope is that our low price will drive more demand and the market price rise and drive the creation of more offset projects. More projects will help solve the problem of climate change.