Carbon Footprint Declaration

The activities of Pathway Zen result in the generation of greenhouse gases, principally on account of travel by participants to events. As an organisation committed to individual self-awareness and ethical practice, it is appropriate to take responsibility for the environmental impact of our collective activities.
In 2020, Pathway Zen committed to a strategy to achieve carbon neutrality through identifying, reducing and offsetting our (carbon dioxide equivalent) emissions. The process entailed:
• Identifying a baseline of annual emissions for the 2019 calendar year
• Committing to a reduction in future emissions by raising awareness amongst members and encouraging car sharing for event attendance
• Purchasing offset units for estimated emissions for the 2020 calendar year of 8.62 tonnes, through a charitable organisation, Carbon Positive Australia, by way of 9 forest carbon offsets (information available at: https://carbonpositiveaustralia.org.au/product/offset-by-tonne/).
Actual carbon emissions in 2020 fell well short of the estimate for the year given sitting was largely conducted online due to Covid 19 restrictions, leaving the carbon account in credit. Emissions for 2021 are also likely fall short of the (2019) baseline because sitting in-person did not resume until March 2021 and regular sits are taking place in one location only, compared with two previously. Pathway Zen has nevertheless maintained the same level of offsets for 2021. We will continue to monitor and seek to reduce our environmental footprint, conduct an annual review of the carbon account and purchase offsets accordingly.
Pathway Zen’s approach is guided by the ‘carbon accounting principles’ and ‘offset integrity principles’ in the Australian Government’s Climate Active Carbon Neutral Standard for Organisations (which can be viewed at: https://www.industry.gov.au/data-and-publications/climate-active-carbon-neutral-standard-for-organisations).