South Pole Group

South Pole Group
Type	Private
Industry	Environmental
Founded	2006
Founder	Patrick Bürgi, Thomas Camerata, Renat Heuberger, Ingo Puhl and Christoph Sutter
Headquarters	Zurich, Switzerland
Number of locations	15
Area served	Worldwide
Products	Carbon offsets
Number of employees	150
Website	thesouthpolegroup.com

South Pole Group is an international company founded in 2006 that specialises in reducing greenhouse gases and in a wide array of sustainability solutions for both public and private organisations. The firm has sixteen offices around the globe in Europe, Middle East, Americas and Asia and operations in 25 countries and a portfolio of over 500 projects,^[1] centering on renewable energy, forestry, energy efficiency, waste management and methane avoidance. The company rebranded from its original name 'South Pole Carbon' to 'South Pole Group', reflecting its move beyond emission reduction project development, wholesale and retail: extended expertise now covers the key areas carbon credit solutions, renewable energy, sustainability advisory, and green finance. South Pole Group is at present one of the major global advisors for climate-related policies, sustainable supply chains, and climate impact assessment for investments.

History

The company started as a spin-off from the ETH Zurich (Swiss Institute of Technology). In 2006 the founders of myclimate joined with former World Bank officers, UNFCCC experts and McKinsey & Company consultants to found the company. Initially called South Pole Carbon, the company has rebranded to South Pole Group.

In 2010, South Pole Group opened its offices in India, where its first project Malavalli was the first project in the world to issue CDM Gold Standard credits.^[2] The same year, Swiss family office Corisol joined South Pole Group's engagement as an investor in the fight against climate change. In 2011, South Pole Group CEO Renat Heuberger and member of the board Christoph Sutter were named as Swiss Social Entrepreneurs of the Year by Schwab Foundation, WEF.^[3] In 2012, the firm acquired a major stake in Australia’s leading carbon offset retailer Climate Friendly.^[4] In 2015, the company rebranded from 'South Pole Carbon' to 'South Pole Group'.

The company

The firm initiated the first issuances of Gold Standard certificates worldwide,^[6] the first Social Carbon offset certificates in South-east Asia ^[7] and the first native species Voluntary Carbon Standard forestry project in South America.^[8] Between 2011-2015, the company was named Best Project Developer in Environmental finance's Voluntary Carbon Market Survey - a prestigious peer-voted award.^[9]

Sustainability Solutions

With the inking of the Paris Agreement at the COP21 climate conference, South Pole Group has announced its determination to turn climate change into an enormous opportunity for companies and organisations alike. In addition to emission reduction project development, wholesale, and retail, the company's areas of expertise covers the key areas carbon credit solutions, renewable energy, sustainability advisory, and green finance. South Pole Group is at present one of the major global advisors for climate-related policies, sustainable supply chains, climate smart cities, and climate impact assessment for investments.

South Pole Group, in partnership with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, in 2012 developed a carbon screening tool to unveil greenhouse gas emissions profiles of more than 40,000 publicly listed companies.^[10]^[11] South Pole Group MOVERS offers integration of monitoring and survey data into its Project Management Tool. Other pioneering solutions include the Climate Credit Card (by South Pole Group and Cornèrcard), which enables clients to carbon offset every credit card purchase they make.^[12]

Today, the company's solutions include:

Carbon Credit Solutions: Carbon Credits; Eco-Gas for public utilities and energy providers; Carbon Project Design; Insetting
Renewable Energy Solutions: GoldPower; Guarantees of Origin (GoO); I-REC - the international REC standard; US RECS; Prime Power
Green Finance: Portfolio advisory; Project Finance - match-making opportunities for investors and renewable energy projects; Cleantech direct investments
Sustainability advisory: Climate policy; GHG Accounting; Investment Climate Impact Assessment; Communications and certification support; Monitoring, Reporting and Verification; Matchmaking facilities between finance and cities

Working with clients in both public and private sectors, South Pole Group's solutions have created strong positive impacts for commerce and communities alike:^[13]

80+ million tonnes of CO2 saved (more than the annual national GHG emissions of Greece and around the annual national GHG emissions of the US state of South Carolina)
Developed over 500+ projects in renewables, forestry, agriculture, industry, households and public institutions
Screened the climate footprint of over USD 2 trillion of investments
Mobilised over USD 10 billion for clean energy investments in emerging markets
Enabled production of more than 100,000 GWh of renewable energy (around 30% of the annual national electricity consumption of the United Kingdom)
Protected or restored over 55,000 km2 of land (approx. the area covered by 5,500,000 soccer pitches)
Helped create nearly 70,000 jobs in developing countries (more than half of the total number of employees of Coca Cola)

Clients & Partners

South Pole Group serves a wide array of clients in both the public and the private sector, such as DHL, who offers carbon neutral shipping,^[14] and Eneco Energie, who provides green sustainable energy.^[15]

The company partners also with numerous organisations, among them the WWF.^[16]

References

External links

South Pole Group official website

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