January 17, 2025

Today, we decided to offset the permitted portion of our carbon emissions through a project that provides energy-efficient cooking ovens in Bangladesh. Given Bangladesh’s heightened vulnerability to the climate crisis, investing in food security and sustainable cooking practices in the region seemed like a meaningful way to offset our emissions.

Initially, we considered selecting a compensation project that was thematically connected to our work and located within the region we operated in—Europe—reflecting on the fact that nuclear waste is intended to remain within the national borders of the country that generated it. However, no accredited compensation projects are currently available in Europe. The controversial world of carbon offsetting—a process that allows companies and projects to become net-zero rather than climate-neutral—is something we neither have the time nor space to fully engage with. We’ll let the website of the compensation company, Knauber Proklima, speak for itself. Their company motto, “Immer weiter: Energie” (roughly: “Always Onward: Energy”), seems rather curious in relation to our project’s critical reflections on humanity’s pursuit of endless energy.