General Terms and Conditions of carbon-connect AG

Preliminary remarks

carbon-connect AG (hereinafter referred to as carbon-connect) is committed to climate protection worldwide through consultation and the offsetting of greenhouse gas emissions with high quality climate protection projects. All climate protection projects comply with internationally recognised quality standards: CDM (Clean Development Mechanism), Gold Standard, CER (Certified Emission Reduction) & VCS (Verified Carbon Standard). These General Terms and Conditions (GTC) take precedence over those of contractual partners during dealings with third parties, unless otherwise agreed in writing.

Definitions:

  • CDM (Clean Development Mechanism): the CDM is a mechanism provided for by the Kyoto Protocol which enables the industrialised countries to achieve a part of their agreed greenhouse gas reduction targets through climate protection projects in developing countries. The CDM also helps developing countries on their way to sustainable development.
  • CER (Certified Emission Reduction): emission reduction certificates issued in accordance with the CDM criteria.
  • VER (Verified Emission Reduction): emission reduction certificates; with VERs, carbon-connect opts for the VCS or Gold Standard whenever possible.
  • Gold Standard: the Gold Standard is a best-practice label developed by more than 60 environmental and development aid organisations that is only awarded to climate protection projects that produce a substantial ecological and social benefit as well as long-term, effective and additional emission reductions that can be proven.
  • VCS (Verified Carbon Standard) The Verified Carbon Standard enables climate protection projects to be carried out which generate certificates that can be traded on the free market. These projects must first be validated for them to be registered; the effective emission savings must then be verified ex post.
  • Vintage: verification period

Activities / Services of carbon-connect

The customer, either as a private customer or as a corporate customer, receives services, which have a CO2-neutralising effect based on the following activities: climate neutralisation, sustainability consulting, preparation of ecobalances, CO2 carbon footprint (corporate carbon footprint) and CO2 balances, climate protection projects and neutralisations, e.g. through climate stickers: climate-neutral company, climate-neutral car, climate-neutral product, climate-neutral event and special solutions. In the case of carbon offsets, carbon-connect will acquire the corresponding number of CO2 certificates upon receipt of the payment and cancel or delete them (24 months at the latest after payment of the offset contribution).

In the event of delays or reduced generation of emission reductions in the selected projects, carbon-connect guarantees replacement:

  1. By certificates of the same vintage and the same quality in another project or
  2. by certificates in the selected projects from a later vintage or
  3. by certificates with a later vintage of the same quality in another project.

carbon-connect and its partners or service providers are not liable for non-fulfilment of one of the contractually agreed  clauses in the contract, if it is due to a cause beyond its control. The same also applies if a partner / project partner of carbon-connect cannot fulfil its contractual obligations under the same circumstances.

The carbon-connect website contains links to external third-party websites, over whose content we have no influence. Therefore, carbon-connect assumes no liability for the links as well as for their content. The respective provider or operator of the websites is always exclusively responsible for the contents of the linked websites. If infringements become known, we shall remove such links immediately.

carbon-connect has applied for the design protection of its logos and labels. The contractual partner respects this and recognises the exclusive intellectual property of the products and services of carbon-connect. He is obliged not to challenge these rights and to refrain from anything that could lead to a dilution of them.

carbon-connect grants its customers the right to make third parties aware of the contractual relationship and to use their own support of carbon-connect climate protection and sustainability consulting in their own means of communication, in particular the website, the annual report or official press releases and thereby to use the carbon-connect brand and the logos or stickers unchanged in accordance with these General Terms and Conditions for the term of a contract and within its scope.

Position of the Customer

The contractual partner is obliged to provide cooperation services, which are required by carbon-connect for the fulfilment of the contract (for example, provision of data, delivery of documents, designation of contact persons, etc.), in a timely manner free of charge. It guarantees the correctness and completeness of the disclosed data. carbon-connect treats these data and this information as confidential. However, it may continue to use these data in a processed or derivative form for statistical, scientific or advertising purposes.

Each invoice is due for payment, strictly net, within ten days of receipt. The invoice amount in the case of climate neutralisation is understood to include value added tax (VAT); in the remaining cases, the VAT is owed in addition. The invoice amount is in CHF or euros and is to be paid in the corresponding currency either by bank payment or credit card payment. carbon-connect may assign the invoices, for example, as part of factoring, with notification of the customer.

carbon-connect shall be liable for damages resulting from intent or gross negligence. Further claims for damages are excluded. In particular, carbon-connect shall be not liable for false information from certificate providers or certificate registries, nor for any other acts or omissions outside its sphere of influence, which could lead to damage to the customer.

Start of contract / right of withdrawal / automatic renewal

The contract begins for both corporate and private customers when signed, in the case of climate neutralisation (for example, Climatepilot / www.climatepilot.com) with purchase of the climate sticker and is concluded for an indefinite period. The subscription is automatically renewed for one year, unless it is cancelled at least 10 days before the end of the contract year. Notice of termination requires acknowledgement of receipt and must be sent by letter or e-mail to info@carbon-connect.ch.

Final provisions

These General Terms and Conditions and contracts based thereon are subject to Swiss law, to the exclusion of conflict of law rules. Disputes arising out of or in connection with the GTC or an additional contract fall within the jurisdiction of the courts at the place where carbon-connect has its registered office. However, carbon-connect is free to assert its claims before other courts in Switzerland or abroad.

Version as of November 2017

‍