Carbon Credits and Offsetting Concepts
What are carbon credits?
A carbon credit represents one tonne of CO₂e reduced or removed from the atmosphere through certified projects. Buyers retire credits to offset their emissions.
Sentinel Earth develops, certifies, and distributes carbon credits backed by real impact and tailored to the buyer's net-zero narrative.
What is carbon offsetting?
Offsetting is the act of compensating for emissions by funding reductions elsewhere — using credits. When a company emits a tonne of CO₂, it can buy and retire a verified credit to neutralize it.
Sentinel Earth is one of the only actors to handle the full lifecycle — from financing the project to issuing the credit and matching it to buyers with climate-aligned goals.
What is carbon dioxide removal (CDR)?
Carbon dioxide removal refers to the process of capturing CO₂ from the atmosphere and storing it long-term in biomass, soils, oceans, or geological formations. CDR includes both nature-based and engineered approaches, and it's essential for neutralizing residual emissions.
Sentinel Earth develops high-quality CDR projects and helps organizations build long-term carbon removal portfolios aligned with science-based net-zero targets.
What are carbon removals?
Carbon removals are solutions that pull CO₂ out of the atmosphere, like afforestation, direct air capture, and biochar. They are critical for achieving net-zero emissions.
Sentinel Earth develops high-integrity nature-based and engineered removal projects and helps organizations blend them into climate portfolios for long-term atmospheric drawdown.
What are avoidance credits?
Avoidance credits are generated from projects that prevent emissions from occurring — like halting deforestation or building renewable energy instead of fossil power.
Sentinel Earth builds and finances high-integrity avoidance projects with strict baselines and measurable impact, ensuring credits are credible and aligned with buyers’ goals.
What is climate contribution vs. offsetting?
Offsetting implies neutralizing emissions with credits. Contribution claims focus on funding climate solutions without claiming equivalence.
Sentinel Earth enables both strategies and helps buyers position their claims transparently — offsetting residuals, contributing beyond.
What is Removal Credit?
A removal credit is a carbon credit generated by activities that physically remove and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, including reforestation, soil carbon sequestration, biochar, and direct air capture, rather than simply avoiding emissions.
Sentinel Earth specializes in carbon dioxide removal projects that generate removal credits, helping buyers meet net-zero targets that increasingly require balancing residual emissions with permanent carbon removal.
What is Reduction Credit?
A reduction credit is a carbon credit generated by activities that avoid or reduce greenhouse gas emissions below a baseline level, such as renewable energy projects, energy efficiency improvements, or methane capture, rather than removing CO₂ from the atmosphere.
Sentinel Earth sources reduction credits from high-integrity projects including renewable energy, fugitive methane destruction, and improved forest management, balancing them with removal credits in buyer portfolios based on net-zero strategies.
What is Forward Contract (Carbon)?
A forward contract is an agreement to purchase or sell carbon credits at a predetermined price and delivery date in the future, providing project developers with upfront financing and buyers with price certainty and supply security.
Sentinel Earth structures forward contracts that balance developer funding needs with buyer risk management, negotiating terms around delivery schedules, methodology approvals, and verification contingencies.
What is Issuance?
Issuance is the formal creation and registration of carbon credits in a registry after a validation and verification body confirms that emission reductions or removals occurred according to an approved methodology and monitoring plan.
Sentinel Earth manages the issuance process from verification report submission through credit registration, ensuring all documentation meets registry requirements and credits are properly serialized and transferred to buyer accounts.
What is Serial Number?
A serial number is a unique identifier assigned to each carbon credit upon issuance, enabling tracking of ownership, transfers, and retirement while preventing double counting and ensuring transparency throughout the credit's lifecycle.
Sentinel Earth ensures all carbon credits are properly serialized and tracked from issuance through retirement, providing buyers with complete chain-of-custody documentation and registry transaction records.