Mennonite Weekly Review

STRASBOURG, France — Mennonite World Conference is working toward the greening of its 2009 global assembly in Paraguay by compensating for exhaust emissions of air travel.

MWC will use a new carbon offset program launched by Mennonite Economic Development Associates, an agency that specializes in business solutions to poverty.

The program, called the MEDA Green Investment Fund, promotes renewable energy sources by investing in environmentally beneficial businesses in developing countries.

MWC officials have for some time grappled with the atmospheric impact of air travel by General Council members, staff, the Paraguay 2009 travel fund and registrants.

“We had decided earlier to begin setting aside a self-imposed levy on all MWC travel,” said Larry Miller, MWC general secretary.

At the same time, MEDA was devising a carbon offset fund to invest in alternative energy ventures that serve the poor. Consultations between Miller and Allan Sauder, MEDA president, led to MWC officers endorsing the MEDA Green Investment Fund for use internally as well as by registrants for Paraguay 2009.

“MEDA’s fund had the benefit of being already in progress as well as being started in Paraguay, thus supporting the country of the MWC assembly,” Miller said.

The program enables people to calculate the effect of their lifestyle choices — such as air travel — and make proportional donations to offset that to zero. These donations, tax deductible in Canada and the United States, are then invested in businesses with a positive environmental impact.

A dedicated MEDA Web site will provide links to reliable carbon calculators to help people tabulate their personal environmental impact. Many such calculators suggest that a $50 investment can offset one metric ton of carbon emissions.

A key feature of acceptable carbon offset businesses is that they satisfy rigorous “additionality” standards, meaning they must be new initiatives with proven benefits to the environment.