Background

Carbon destruction (‘the service’) allows individuals and organisations to take direct action to reduce carbon emissions and call for the EU to do more to tackle climate change.

The European Union has a ‘cap and trade’ policy that sets a legal limit on carbon dioxide emissions covering over 12,000 installations – mainly power stations and large factories. A fixed volume of pollution is allowed each year – the cap – and for every tonne of pollution installations emit, they need to present an allowance, known as EUAs. By supplying a declining amount of allowances, pollution is reduced over time. Trade in permits is permitted to allow the market to find the lowest cost carbon savings.

Through Carbon Destruction, Sandbag purchases EUAs from this market on behalf of individuals and organisations, who pay Sandbag for the service. The EUAs are permanently taken out of the carbon market so reducing the number of permits and hence future pollution.

Unfortunately the system is not living up to its potential because too many EUAs have been issued. So as well as cancelling specific EUA permits, Carbon Destruction allows the user to send a message to EU politicians calling on them to urgently repair the emissions trading system by reducing the supply of EUAs.

Process

Sandbag buys EUAs in advance and for each tonne purchased and cancelled Sandbag allocates a specific EUA – identified by a unique code – which is then marked as cancelled in Sandbags EUA account on behalf of the purchaser.

Each purchaser immediately* receives a certificate with their EUA reference numbers, allowing them to check at any point in the future that the EUA has been removed from the emissions trading system.
*by email, within 24hrs, assuming we have enough in stock to cover the purchase – see below.

Pricing

When possible Sandbag buys EUAs from non profit organisations, such as hospital trusts or universities, large enough to have been issued with permits. This means that we know the initial origin of the permits. If such a seller cannot be found Sandbag may also buy from a broker. In either case the price offered to Sandbag for the EUAs is largely determined by the ‘spot price’ of the carbon market, plus any additional charges that the seller of the EUAs adds.

The process of purchasing EUAs involves costs – finding a buyer, brokering a transaction etc. Generally it is only possible to purchase volumes greater than 1000 tonnes. The process of providing the Carbon Destruction service also adds to our core costs – web development, staff time etc.

Sandbag therefore offers Carbon Destruction on a ‘cost plus’ basis, charging the price we paid for the permit plus 10% to cover the costs of providing the service.

Refunds

Sandbag is able to offer refunds if absolutely necessary.

Out of Stock?

Sandbag keeps a stock of EUAs and cancels them as supporters use the Carbon Destruction service. When the stock runs low we purchase more. As we do not have the capital to keep a large stock of EUAs there is a chance that EUAs will be used up before more are purchased – for example if someone makes a large purchase. In this instance the website purchase form will indicate how many are available and supporters will be invited to contact Sandbag to let them know they are interested in purchasing additional tonnes.

Sandbag privacy policy

We are committed to safeguarding the privacy of our website visitors; this policy sets out how we will treat your personal information.

1. What information do we collect?
   We may collect, store and use the following kinds of personal data:
   (a) information about your computer and about your visits to and use of this website, such as your IP address, geographical location, browser type, referral source, length of visit and number of page views;
   (b) information relating to any transactions carried out between you and us on or in relation to this website, including information relating to any purchases you make of our goods or services;
   (c) information that you provide to us for the purpose of registering with us;
   (d) information that you provide to us for the purpose of subscribing to our website services, email notifications and/or newsletters; and (e) any other information that you choose to send to us.
   
2. Cookies
   We use cookies on this website. A cookie is a text file sent by a web server to a web browser, and stored by the browser. The text file is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server. This enables the web server to identify and track the web browser.
   We may send a cookie which may be stored on by your browser on your computer’s hard drive. We may use the information we obtain from the cookie in the administration of this website, to improve the website’s usability and for marketing purposes. We may also use that information to recognise your computer when you visit our website, and to personalise our website for you.
   Most browsers allow you to refuse to accept cookies. (For example, in Internet Explorer you can refuse all cookies by clicking “Tools”, “Internet Options”, “Privacy”, and selecting “Block all cookies” using the sliding selector.) This will, however, have a negative impact upon the usability of many websites, including this one. We may use Google Analytics to analyse the use of this website. Google Analytics generates statistical and other information about website use by means of cookies, which are stored on users’ computers. The information generated relating to our website is used to create reports about the use of the website. Google will store this information. Google’s privacy policy is available at: http://www.google.com/privacypolicy.html.
3. Using your personal data
   Personal data submitted on this website will be used for the purposes specified in this privacy policy or in relevant parts of the website.
   We may use your personal information to:
   (a) administer the website;
   (b) improve your browsing experience by personalising the website;
   (c) enable your use of the services available on the website;
   (d) send to you goods purchased via the website, and supply to you services purchased via the website;
   (e) send statements and invoices to you, and collect payments from you;
   (f) send you general (non-marketing) commercial communications;
   (g) send you email notifications which you have specifically requested;
   (h) send to you our newsletter and other marketing communications (relating to our business or the businesses of carefully-selected third parties) which we think may be of interest to you by post or, where you have specifically agreed to this, by email or similar technology (you can inform us at any time if you no longer require marketing communications to be sent by emailing us at info [at] sandbag.org.uk)
   (i) provide third parties with statistical information about our users – but this information will not be used to identify any individual user; and
   (j) deal with enquiries and complaints made by or about you relating to the website.
   We will not without your express consent provide your personal information to any third parties for the purpose of direct marketing.
4. Other disclosures
   In addition to the disclosures reasonably necessary for the purposes identified elsewhere in this privacy policy, we may disclose information about you:
   (a) to the extent that we are required to do so by law;
   (b) in connection with any legal proceedings or prospective legal proceedings;
   (c) in order to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights (including providing information to others for the purposes of fraud prevention and reducing credit risk); and
   (d) to the purchaser (or prospective purchaser) of any business or asset which we are (or are contemplating) selling.
   Except as provided in this privacy policy, we will not provide your information to third parties.
5. International data transfers
   Information that we collect may be stored and processed in and transferred between any of the countries in which we operate in order to enable us to use the information in accordance with this privacy policy.
6. Security of your personal data
   We will take reasonable technical and organisational precautions to prevent the loss, misuse or alteration of your personal information. Data transmission over the public internet carries inherent security risks, and we cannot guarantee the security of data during transmission to or from our website.
   You are responsible for keeping your password and user details confidential. We will not ask you for your password.
7. Policy amendments
   We may update this privacy policy from time-to-time by posting a new version on our website. You should check this page occasionally to ensure you are happy with any changes. We may also notify you of changes to our privacy policy by email.
8. Your rights
   You may instruct us to provide you with any personal information we hold about you. Provision of such information may be subject to the payment of a fee (currently fixed at £10.00).
9. Third party websites
   The website contains links to other websites. We are not responsible for the privacy policies or practices of third party websites.
10. Updating information
    Please let us know if the personal information which we hold about you needs to be corrected or updated.
11. Contact
    If you have any questions about this privacy policy or our treatment of your personal data, please write to us by email: info [at] sandbag.org.uk.
    This privacy policy is based on a template created and distributed by www.website-law.co.uk.