Building a climate portfolio beyond either/or
How credit stacking delivers faster, stronger, and more durable climate impact. A collaboration with Zack Henderson, Market Innovation Manager at Tradewater.
Editor’s note: Earlier this year, we expanded our portfolio beyond durable carbon removal and into superpollutants, supporting projects such as methane abatement from orphaned oil and gas wells and refrigerant destruction. These gases have an outsized impact on near-term warming and remain underfunded, making philanthropy essential to scaling their mitigation.
To mark this expansion, we invited Tradewater, a leading organization in superpollutant prevention, to share how forward-thinking buyers are beginning to “stack” climate credits across project types. This approach reflects the same both/and strategy guiding Terraset’s work: pairing long-term carbon removal with immediate climate impact. We’re excited to feature their perspective as we build a more complete, higher-impact climate portfolio.
Climate action requires balance. We need solutions that deliver immediate progress and long-term durability; innovation and proven tools; cost-effectiveness and high integrity. For buyers trying to make meaningful climate contributions, the real question becomes: What does a “good” purchase actually look like?
Frameworks like the Oxford Offsetting Principles, for example, emphasize the need for high quality credits that durably remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. However, these credits are often in short supply, rely on relatively new technology, and come at a higher cost. Bringing costs down requires multi-year, patient investment, but scaling up corporate impact takes time.
But the climate doesn’t give us that time. We also need fast, measurable impact today.
That’s where Tradewater’s work fits in. By preventing active methane leaks from orphaned oil and gas wells and destroying legacy refrigerants—two of the most powerful drivers of near-term warming—we deliver fast, measurable climate impact using proven technologies and methods that exist today. Increasingly, buyers are treating climate action the way they’d treat a financial portfolio: not by choosing one solution, but by combining complementary ones.
This approach is called credit stacking.
What is credit stacking?
Credit stacking simply means building a carbon credit portfolio across multiple dimensions of impact. Rather than choosing only removals or only avoidance/abatement, buyers blend approaches to maximize climate benefits.
Four of the most important dimensions include:
Permanence
Not all climate actions have the same durability. Some project types lock in long-term benefits (like carbon capture and storage); others offer permanent impact with no risk of reversal (like refrigerant destruction). Stacking allows buyers to mix complementary permanence profiles to strengthen overall resilience.
Technology Risk
Emerging carbon removal technologies have enormous potential but are still in the early stages of development. Superpollutant mitigation is ready to scale today. Blending innovation with reliability spreads perceived risk while still delivering climate benefits in the near-term.
Cost
Durable carbon removal technologies require committed investment to scale, resulting in high cost credits in the near-term. Stacking across price points helps buyers meet impact goals at a sustainable average cost-per-credit.
Climate Impact
Superpollutants increase atmospheric temperature much more quickly than CO2—over 80 times more quickly in the case of methane, and thousands of times in the case of refrigerants. Stacking creates a portfolio that delivers climate impact on multiple time horizons while supporting broader social and environmental benefits like biodiversity, workforce development and stronger local economies.
Stacking is for everyone.
Companies like Salesforce, Google and—you guessed it—Terraset, are pursuing diversified portfolios that combine long-term removals with immediate superpollutant mitigation. But you don’t need to be a multinational company to build a smart climate portfolio. Individuals, philanthropists, and small businesses can all blend project types to support high-quality, high-integrity solutions across timelines.
Terraset’s recent expansion into superpollutants reflects that same both/and mindset:
Stopping methane leaks from orphaned oil and gas wells
Destroying legacy, end-of-life refrigerants with massive warming potential
Permanently removing carbon dioxide through durable carbon removal projects
Credit stacking recognizes a simple reality: the climate crisis is multi-layered, and our response must be too.
Curious about how you can support a stacked portfolio? Reach out to Taylor Insley at taylor@terrasetclimate.org.
About Tradewater
A certified B Corp, Tradewater directly combats climate change by identifying, collecting, and eliminating the release of non-CO₂ super pollutants – including refrigerants in old appliances and stockpiles, excess halon gases in canisters, and methane from actively leaking oil and gas wells. These critical environmental actions generate high-quality carbon offset credits. Since 2012, we’ve eliminated over 10.6 million tons of CO₂ equivalent and expect to prevent at least 30 million tons by 2030 – similar to removing nearly 7 million gas-powered cars from U.S. roads. Every Tradewater credit is backed by rigorous third-party verification and issued by leading registries to ensure maximum integrity, additionality, and accuracy. Learn more at www.tradewater.co.