This year, we are offering the Burning Man community an option to offset emissions from their travel and participation. Funds collected before, during, and after the festival will be used to purchase and retire high-quality, verified carbon removal credits.
To keep things simple, we created three participant personas and calculated their emissions:
Per-Person Carbon Emission Analysis for Burning Man Festival Attendees
We recommend a contribution of 1 carbon credit, equivalent to 1 tCO2e emitted, per participant.
Participants can offset their personal emissions, those of their camps, and/or other emissions, including historical ones. The collected proceeds will purchase a diversified portfolio of carbon removal credits—ranging from nature-based solutions like soil carbon and blue carbon to engineered removals occurring on land and in oceans through physical and biological methods. Most carbon removal projects in the portfolio are already completed, measured, and certified. A small percentage includes innovative projects that will be certified within the next 1-3 years. These newer projects will be included and contracted, but paid for by the organizers only after verification and certification.
<aside> 🍃
Nature Based Solutions (NBS) vs. Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) CDR technologies are maturing rapidly, with projects being commissioned worldwide. However, as of summer 2025, CDR credits remain limited in the market, with prices reflecting this scarcity. To keep our program accessible and inclusive, this year we're offering a "blended ton"—comprising 85% high-quality NBS credits (sourced primarily from the Global South) and 15% CDR credits.
By 2030, we aim to transition to 100% CDR while maintaining reasonable pricing.
</aside>
The purchase and retirement of carbon credits is managed by Wild Assets, an asset management firm dedicated to sourcing, contracting, and managing carbon removals. Progress reports will be provided
Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are released through various activities and services we engage in, primarily from burning fossil fuels and using fertilizers and other industrial products. These gases trap heat in the atmosphere, causing climate change and global warming.
Currently, there are approximately 700 billion tonnes of CO2-equivalent GHGs in the atmosphere, with about 30 billion more added yearly. This equals roughly 1,000 tonnes per second, or 500 million tonnes that humanity will emit during the Burning Man festival alone.
While reducing emissions must be our priority, complete elimination isn't always feasible. Carbon removal solutions capture GHGs from the atmosphere and store them in stable forms for hundreds or thousands of years. According to UN climate experts, we'll need to remove 5-12 billion tonnes annually to control average temperatures, alongside cleaning our energy grid, reducing waste, and changing our consumption and transportation habits.