Environmental analysis news: Swiss consumers 'to choose CO2 offset project'

Customers of the Swiss postal service are to decide which project the company should invest in to offset its carbon emissions.

In an initiative run by Swiss Post, customers of its service have been given the option of paying a "Pro Clima surcharge" on their transactions to help the organisation offset the CO2 emissions generated by mailing letters and packages.

The Pro Clima programme has been collecting money for a year. Swiss Post has now selected three environmental projects which consumers can vote for between January 18th and 27th.

The three options are investing in a biomass power plant in India, paying money towards the development of a waste disposal power station in Turkey or developing a wind power plant in northern China.

Swiss Post has stated that it will only invest in Gold Standard projects, which result in a real reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and promote sustainable development within the host country.

The federal postal service in Switzerland was established in 1849 and the organisation was split in 1997 to its present incarnations of Swiss Post and Swisscom.

Posted by Claire Manning