Belgrave Trust
Encyclopedia
Belgrave Trust is a social enterprise
firm that uses carbon offset
s to allow individuals to live carbon neutral, through subscriptions and environmentally conscious products bundled with offsets. The firm's principal business is conducted through a retail website that offers a curated selection of physical items as well as personal and gift subscriptions. Revenues derived from subscribers and through the sale of products are used to offset greenhouse gasses through the purchase and retirement of carbon offset
securities that fund projects creating clean energy or reducing emissions.
Environmentally Conscious Products : A curated line of products created with environmentally conscious practices, each bundled with a carbon offset component that addresses a specific area of a home, office, or lifestyle
Carbon Neutral Membership Service : A subscription based service that calculates an across-the-board total estimate of the carbon footprint of an individual or household and enables support of an equivalent amount of emissions reduction through support of a portfolio of offset projects.
Gift Subscriptions / Memberships : Gift subscriptions, similar to the individual membership service but for use as a gift or "Sponsored Membership.
Corporate Sustainability Services : Through parent company Belgrave Climate Exchange, Inc. the firm offers a suite of analytic and assessment services for businesses working on CSR
initiatives.
.
The firm's website first debuted in March 2009 as an invitation-only alpha, launched a public beta on November 5, 2009, and exited beta on January 20, 2010.. The firm was co-founded by entertainment executive (and Huffington Post commentator) Nicholas Baily, and serial entrepreneur and longtime New York tech community participant Jeffrey A. Stewart, prolific angel investor and founder of technology startups including publicly-traded Square Earth/Proxicom and online print service Mimeo.com.
Other supporters and staff include green trading expert Peter Fusaro, Chairman of Global Change Associates and author of 15 books including New York Times bestseller "What Went Wrong at Enron" and "Cut Carbon, Grow Profits"; former CTO of exclusive invitation-only social network aSmallWorld
.net Neil Capel; Serial ntrepreneur and pundit Jason Calacanis
; original digital media icon and Razorfish
founder Craig Kanarick; Erik Dochtermann, CEO of luxury advertising and marketing firm KD&E.
The firm announced debuted a line of environmentally conscious physical products and launched a new store in November of 2010.
Ease Through Simplicity : An extreme concern with a very simple and fast method for calculating and individual's carbon footprint, contrasted with the sequential questionnaire approach, and transactional (rather than subscription) model used by first generation retail voluntary offset services such as TerraPass
and Native Energy. The firm refers to an "actuarial" (akin to insurance risk assessment) model for providing carbon footprint estimates by a "drill-down" method, and maintains that this method produces equivalent accuracy to other means.
Strength From Diversification : The firm espouses an "actively managed portfolio" of offsets diversified across various types of emissions abatement programs, in varied regions. The company lists multiple projects within this portfolio and several certification standards, though the company has yet to publish its first audited report of its carbon trading and retirement activities.
Innovation Via Markets : Another contrast between Belgrave Trust and similar offset resellers—also divergent from the core left/progressive suspicion of unfettered market forces—is an unabashed advocacy of markets as the clear "best" solution for addressing climate change, and on their site compares the carbon offset market to the discovery of oil, noting that in both cases market forces are capable of bringing about rapid environmental change through technology.
The launch was met with favorable press attention from enviro outlets such as Treehugger and Discovery Networks as well as design based media such as GOOD magazine and "new ideas" and tech outlets such as PSFK and Techcrunch.
One item in specific, however, landed the company in the spotlight. The LaptopNeutral sticker, designed to offset the emissions for Apple's popular line of aluminum-bodied notebook computers, crossed over from niche attention and became one of 2010's notable climate change stories when it was picked up by TIME Magazine. Time's climate change reporter Bryan Walsh penned a story entitled "Why Your Mac May Not Be as Clean As You Think". In the story, Walsh notes that "manufacturing aluminum is extremely energy-intensive, and as laptops shift from plastic casing to aluminum, their carbon footprints expand," citing Belgrave Trust's research and comments from Mr. Baily:
The story was picked up by other hard news outlets such as Reuters, and as of January, 2011 no response or comment from Apple had been cited in contemporaneous media.
During the firm's invitation-only beta period, it had participated in partnerships with firms such as Cirrus
Aviation and Aston Martin
. Belgrave Trust first received press attention from luxury and wealth oriented media, including Luxist.com, JustLuxe, and Lussorian, and has received much of its coverage from consumer product and financial themed media, also including Crain's New York Business and Inc Magazine.
The company may be the first to coin the term "Luxury Carbon" in the context of a consumer product or service.
The firm has acknowledged that catering to the wealthy may be controversial but counters by alleging that the wealthy bear a disproportionate share of the blame for climate change, and that a service targeting the affluent specifically is a necessity. Founder & CEO Nick Baily, in a speech at the Wall Street Green Trading Summit in 2008, spoke directly to both sides of this point, stating: "So why go straight to the affluent? Because it’s precisely those who have had the most impact that have the means to create a solution.". This line of reasoning has been common in press interviews with Baily and Stewart, with Baily telling financial news anchor Maria Bartiromo in a televised NBC interview: "The top seven percent of the world's affluent are responsible for half of its carbon footprint. If you're not addressing that, you're missing the point."
Belgrave Trust's approach has also been covered and discussed in the core environmental community. Mainstream environmental news outlets have expressed support, though often acknowledging the likely negative feelings towards the wealthy. For example, Treehugger.com says: "The dirty, stinking rich! Yeah, I said it! They are always getting called-out for their imbalanced percentage of environmental destruction," though they follow with: "Love it or hate it - the mega-rich hold the key for a game changer with carbon emissions." Other environmental commentators such as Corporate Sustainability Wire and have been more unequivocal in their praise.
Social enterprise
A social enterprise is an organization that applies business strategies to achieving philanthropic goals. Social enterprises can be structured as a for-profit or non-profit....
firm that uses carbon offset
Carbon offset
A carbon offset is a reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide or greenhouse gases made in order to compensate for or to offset an emission made elsewhere....
s to allow individuals to live carbon neutral, through subscriptions and environmentally conscious products bundled with offsets. The firm's principal business is conducted through a retail website that offers a curated selection of physical items as well as personal and gift subscriptions. Revenues derived from subscribers and through the sale of products are used to offset greenhouse gasses through the purchase and retirement of carbon offset
Carbon offset
A carbon offset is a reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide or greenhouse gases made in order to compensate for or to offset an emission made elsewhere....
securities that fund projects creating clean energy or reducing emissions.
Products and Services
The firm offers four main areas of service:Environmentally Conscious Products : A curated line of products created with environmentally conscious practices, each bundled with a carbon offset component that addresses a specific area of a home, office, or lifestyle
Carbon Neutral Membership Service : A subscription based service that calculates an across-the-board total estimate of the carbon footprint of an individual or household and enables support of an equivalent amount of emissions reduction through support of a portfolio of offset projects.
Gift Subscriptions / Memberships : Gift subscriptions, similar to the individual membership service but for use as a gift or "Sponsored Membership.
Corporate Sustainability Services : Through parent company Belgrave Climate Exchange, Inc. the firm offers a suite of analytic and assessment services for businesses working on CSR
CSR
CSR may refer to:In business:* CSR Limited, an Australian industrial company, formerly known as Colonial Sugar Refining Company* CSR plc, or Cambridge Silicon Radio, a British silicon chip designer and software company...
initiatives.
Timeline And Organization
Belgrave Trust was founded by Nick Baily and Jeffrey A. Stewart and launched to the general public in November 2009. The company is based in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
The firm's website first debuted in March 2009 as an invitation-only alpha, launched a public beta on November 5, 2009, and exited beta on January 20, 2010.. The firm was co-founded by entertainment executive (and Huffington Post commentator) Nicholas Baily, and serial entrepreneur and longtime New York tech community participant Jeffrey A. Stewart, prolific angel investor and founder of technology startups including publicly-traded Square Earth/Proxicom and online print service Mimeo.com.
Other supporters and staff include green trading expert Peter Fusaro, Chairman of Global Change Associates and author of 15 books including New York Times bestseller "What Went Wrong at Enron" and "Cut Carbon, Grow Profits"; former CTO of exclusive invitation-only social network aSmallWorld
ASmallWorld
aSmallWorld is an on-line social network service similar to XING, and LinkedIn. It is an exclusive network with roughly 770,000 members that was founded by Erik and Louise Wachtmeister.-Features:...
.net Neil Capel; Serial ntrepreneur and pundit Jason Calacanis
Jason Calacanis
Jason McCabe Calacanis is an American Internet entrepreneur and blogger. His first company was part of the dot-com era in New York, and his second venture, Weblogs, Inc., capitalized on the growth of blogs before being sold to AOL....
; original digital media icon and Razorfish
Razorfish
-Fish:A common name used for three unrelated groups of fishes:* The genera Aeoliscus and Centriscus of the family Centriscidae, also known as shrimpfishes* The genus Xyrichtys of the family Labridae* The species Aeoliscus strigatus-Bivalve:...
founder Craig Kanarick; Erik Dochtermann, CEO of luxury advertising and marketing firm KD&E.
The firm announced debuted a line of environmentally conscious physical products and launched a new store in November of 2010.
Values & Approach
The company's focus on the affluent manifests in what the founders have termed an "alignment of values" with the wealthy, which the firm describes through three tag phrases, which appear throughout their marketing materials.Ease Through Simplicity : An extreme concern with a very simple and fast method for calculating and individual's carbon footprint, contrasted with the sequential questionnaire approach, and transactional (rather than subscription) model used by first generation retail voluntary offset services such as TerraPass
TerraPass
TerraPass is a social enterprise that provides carbon offsetting products to individuals and businesses. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, TerraPass uses proceeds from member purchases to fund greenhouse gas reduction projects such as wind farms and methane digesters...
and Native Energy. The firm refers to an "actuarial" (akin to insurance risk assessment) model for providing carbon footprint estimates by a "drill-down" method, and maintains that this method produces equivalent accuracy to other means.
Strength From Diversification : The firm espouses an "actively managed portfolio" of offsets diversified across various types of emissions abatement programs, in varied regions. The company lists multiple projects within this portfolio and several certification standards, though the company has yet to publish its first audited report of its carbon trading and retirement activities.
Innovation Via Markets : Another contrast between Belgrave Trust and similar offset resellers—also divergent from the core left/progressive suspicion of unfettered market forces—is an unabashed advocacy of markets as the clear "best" solution for addressing climate change, and on their site compares the carbon offset market to the discovery of oil, noting that in both cases market forces are capable of bringing about rapid environmental change through technology.
Launch Of Products & Attention For Apple Initiative
In the fall of 2010 the firm made its first foray into selling physical products through a limited edition line, created in partnership with New York based artist and designer Jason Douglas Griffin. Coinciding with a ground-up rebranding and a relaunch of their main site the line's approach was to "pair carbon neutrality with sustainable design" and the firm cited the initiative as a means to raise awareness of climate change solutions and broaden the market for support of carbon mitigating products.The launch was met with favorable press attention from enviro outlets such as Treehugger and Discovery Networks as well as design based media such as GOOD magazine and "new ideas" and tech outlets such as PSFK and Techcrunch.
One item in specific, however, landed the company in the spotlight. The LaptopNeutral sticker, designed to offset the emissions for Apple's popular line of aluminum-bodied notebook computers, crossed over from niche attention and became one of 2010's notable climate change stories when it was picked up by TIME Magazine. Time's climate change reporter Bryan Walsh penned a story entitled "Why Your Mac May Not Be as Clean As You Think". In the story, Walsh notes that "manufacturing aluminum is extremely energy-intensive, and as laptops shift from plastic casing to aluminum, their carbon footprints expand," citing Belgrave Trust's research and comments from Mr. Baily:
The Belgrave Trust, a New York-based social enterprise that calculates carbon footprints and offers carbon offsets, estimates that aluminum-cased laptops like MacBook Air can cause 42% more greenhouse gas emissions in their manufacture than identical plastic-cased versions. In fact, Belgrave estimates that if Apple sells 10 million aluminum-cased items as expected this holiday season, the company would have a bigger carbon footprint from those products alone than a major airline like British Airways or Air France. "It's a lot more energy-intensive than you imagine," says Nick Baily, Belgrave Trust's founder. "The emissions really add up over time. People don't realize that computers are responsible for around 5% of the world's carbon emissions."
The story was picked up by other hard news outlets such as Reuters, and as of January, 2011 no response or comment from Apple had been cited in contemporaneous media.
Offsets For The Affluent
The company has drawn attention for choosing to focus on the affluent as its primary audience.During the firm's invitation-only beta period, it had participated in partnerships with firms such as Cirrus
Cirrus Design
The Cirrus Aircraft Corporation is an aircraft manufacturer that was founded in 1984 by Alan and Dale Klapmeier to produce the VK-30 kit aircraft....
Aviation and Aston Martin
Aston Martin
Aston Martin Lagonda Limited is a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars, based in Gaydon, Warwickshire. The company name is derived from the name of one of the company's founders, Lionel Martin, and from the Aston Hill speed hillclimb near Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire...
. Belgrave Trust first received press attention from luxury and wealth oriented media, including Luxist.com, JustLuxe, and Lussorian, and has received much of its coverage from consumer product and financial themed media, also including Crain's New York Business and Inc Magazine.
The company may be the first to coin the term "Luxury Carbon" in the context of a consumer product or service.
The firm has acknowledged that catering to the wealthy may be controversial but counters by alleging that the wealthy bear a disproportionate share of the blame for climate change, and that a service targeting the affluent specifically is a necessity. Founder & CEO Nick Baily, in a speech at the Wall Street Green Trading Summit in 2008, spoke directly to both sides of this point, stating: "So why go straight to the affluent? Because it’s precisely those who have had the most impact that have the means to create a solution.". This line of reasoning has been common in press interviews with Baily and Stewart, with Baily telling financial news anchor Maria Bartiromo in a televised NBC interview: "The top seven percent of the world's affluent are responsible for half of its carbon footprint. If you're not addressing that, you're missing the point."
Belgrave Trust's approach has also been covered and discussed in the core environmental community. Mainstream environmental news outlets have expressed support, though often acknowledging the likely negative feelings towards the wealthy. For example, Treehugger.com says: "The dirty, stinking rich! Yeah, I said it! They are always getting called-out for their imbalanced percentage of environmental destruction," though they follow with: "Love it or hate it - the mega-rich hold the key for a game changer with carbon emissions." Other environmental commentators such as Corporate Sustainability Wire and have been more unequivocal in their praise.