ISK is Carbon Neutral!

Announcement from the Students for the Environment Club (SFE) and the Carbon Neutral Alliance (CNA):

We are proud to announce that ISK will be carbon-neutral for the 2022-2023 school year. Thank you to Mrs. Lucia Muasya and the finance team for leading the carbon audit, the operations, administration, and leadership team, the PTO, and all the community members who have supported this process over the last three years.

To offset ISK's emissions for the 2021 - 2022 school year, the Carbon Neutral Alliance chose to buy credits from two local organizations doing amazing things for the environment in Kenya. Put very simply, the two main forms of carbon offsetting are through buying carbon credits from organizations that either plant trees to capture carbon or protect existing trees. A carbon credit is a tradable certificate or permit representing the right to emit a tonne of carbon dioxide, which causes global warming.

After extensive research, students decided to split our carbon credits between two Kenyan community-based projects. The Code Redd project empowers the Maasai community to protect their lands, trees, and wildlife between Tsavo and Amboseli. The LEAF project works with the fishing communities on Kilifi Creek, whose lives and welfare are intertwined with the Mangrove ecosystem, planting seedlings of this endangered, carbon-capturing plant.

As COP 27 draws to a close, it is very clear that action rather than words are required as humanity faces the existential threat of the climate crisis. We as a species and individuals need to do more to protect our environment and life itself. Now our real challenge as a community is to reduce our carbon footprint so that each year we become more sustainable and become less reliant on carbon credits.

Elia (Grade 10)
(on behalf of SFE and CNA)