Who owns atmosfair?

atmosfair is a non-profit limited liability company (gGmbH) that was founded in 2004 as part of a research project of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment. atmosfair was initiated in 2003 as a community initiative of the environmental organisation Germanwatch  and forum anders reisen e.V. . The CEO, co-founder, and shareholder of atmosfair is the physicist and environmental economist Dr. Dietrich Brockhagen. Since 2005, another shareholder of atmosfair has been the environmentally and development-oriented foundation Stiftung Zukunftsfähigkeit. Additionally, atmosfair is supported by an advisory board consisting of representatives from climate-competent departments of the federal government and two environmental organizations. atmosfair is also overseen by an independent board of directors to ensure its economic integrity and solidity.

How is atmosfair financed?

atmosfair primarily finances itself through donations (climate protection contributions for CO₂ compensation), of which we allocate a maximum of 10% for our administration, public relations, and customer support. Our commercial profits from the development and successful distribution of CO₂ accounting software in the travel industry, as well as climate protection consulting for businesses, assist us in this endeavor. atmosfair does not receive any public subsidies or payments from its shareholder, Stiftung Zukunftsfähigkeit. Therefore, atmosfair maintains complete financial independence.

What is a gGmbH?

atmosfair is a “gemeinnützige Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung,” which means a non-profit limited liability company. The difference between a gGmbH and a GmbH lies in the gGmbH’s orientation towards the public interest. Profits are not pursued within the gGmbH organisational form. The so-called profit entirely benefits matters of public interest, which in our case is climate protection. The purpose of atmosfair is altruistic, direct, and exclusive. In addition, a gGmbH is tax-privileged.

How high are the administrative costs?

In the years following our establishment, we’ve consistently maintained minimal administrative expenses, consistently keeping them below 10% of our revenue. This means that out of a €100 donation, over €90 has been directly channeled into our projects since the inception of atmosfair!

Furthermore, in recent years, we’ve managed to further reduce this percentage to approximately 5%, ensuring that nearly €95 out of every €100 donated directly supports our climate protection projects. This was also externally confirmed for atmosfair for the years 2021 and 2022 by the German Central Institute for Social Issues (DZI) with its donation seal. The German Central Institute for Social Issues in Berlin can award this quality seal to non-profit organizations after extensive and independent review. Due to the high costs of the DZI seal, we have decided to forgo another review for the time being, as it primarily served to confirm our low administrative cost ratio. The administrative cost ratios determined by DZI for the years 2020 and 2021 were lower than those calculated by atmosfair itself.

Who monitors atmosfair?

The climate protection projects are monitored by independent and accredited UN inspectors before and during project operations. You can view the official project audit reports at any time directly from the UNFCCC websites (http://cdm.unfccc.int/) independently of atmosfair.

A board comprising representatives from scientific, environmental, and climate-competent departments of the federal government oversees compliance with atmosfair standards. Additionally, the board of directors, acting as an independent body, ensures the company’s compliance, economic integrity, and solidity.

As a non-profit limited liability company (gGmbH), atmosfair is subject to the German GmbH Act. Accordingly, a profit and loss statement (income statement) as well as a balance sheet must be submitted to the commercial register annually. The tax office annually verifies the company’s non-profit status.