ISA Offsets 100% of Greenhouse Gases with Antioquia Reforestation Project

Medellin-based power transmission giant ISA announced April 14 that it managed to offset 100% of its total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions via a reforestation project in Bajo Cauca, Antioquia.

The company won a “Carbon Neutral Certificate” from Switzerland-based GHG emissions-credit trader and environmental consultant South Pole Group.

ISA and its InterColombia power transmission affiliate “offset their carbon footprint through the investment in a pioneering project in Bajo Cauca, Antioquia,” according to the company.

This carbon-emissions offset was achieved through an “innovative initiative of restoring lands degraded by livestock and mining in the municipality of Caceres” in Bajo Cauca.

“Unlike commercial reforestation practices based on planting of tree monocultures, this project, called ‘restoration and reforestation of degraded areas with native species,’ focuses on the recovery of soils of tropical forests and the restoration of habitat for endangered species, such as turtles and parrots,” according to the company.

“The project is based on principles of sustainable forest management and it is the first in Colombia to be certified under voluntary carbon standards — the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Standards and Verified Carbon Standard, the strictest for forestry carbon projects worldwide.

“In addition, the initiative contributes to land-use planning, protection of biodiversity and improving the quality of life of communities in Bajo Cauca, Antioquia, through funding of different educational, cultural and socioeconomic activities,” according to the company.

Since 2012, ISA and InterColombia have offset 10,582 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) related to their energy transmission business in Colombia.

The novel CO2 offset program conforms with “internationally certified projects suitable under the requirements of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index,” added ISA president Bernardo Vargas Gibsone.