Canada’s largest urban innovation hub is taking a trailblazing step in the fight against climate change.
Today, MaRS Discovery District announced the purchase of carbon removal credits from five Canadian ventures through its Mission from MaRS program.
Among the five ventures is Vancouver-based cleantech Arca.
Originally known as Carbin Minerals, Arca re-processes tailings from nickel mines to make them reactive to carbon dioxide, which radically accelerates a natural geochemical process called carbon mineralization.
Carbon removal is a critical technology for achieving climate targets. It is the process of capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and locking it away for centuries.
Organizations trying to achieve their climate targets can purchase carbon removal credits as a mechanism to reduce their emissions. This allows them to compensate another party for removing carbon on their behalf.
When a company buys a carbon credit, it represents one tonne of carbon dioxide emitted, typically from legacy or hard-to-abate emissions, such as industrial processes.
“Canada is already showing leadership in carbon removal, including being home to world-class innovations like the companies we are purchasing from through this initiative,” says Krista Jones, chief delivery officer at MaRS.
“We just need to jumpstart the market. We hope that through this purchase, MaRS will inspire others to take action.”
As a pre-purchase, MaRS will be receiving the credits over the next three years and intends to use them toward lowering the emissions footprint of the annual MaRS Climate Impact Conference.
According to CDR.fyi, the most comprehensive database for tracking CDR credits, MaRS is one of the first Canadian charitable organizations to purchase carbon removal credits.
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