
Protecting Our Environment
Caring for our planet and our place
For The Good
netzero 2030

In 2020, Taos Ski Valley announced that it would achieve Net Zero carbon emissions by 2030.
Net Zero emissions mean that all greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) are balanced globally by removal on an annual basis. Taos’ Net Zero Emissions by 2030 goal considers all direct (Scopes 1 & 2) and indirect (Scope 3) emissions under operational control. Removal of GHGs are completed through a combination of direct operational activities, such as reducing building energy use.
Certified Carbon Neutral
As a step towards NetZero by 2030, Taos Ski Valley became Certified CarbonNeutral® in August of 2022 utilizing carbon offsets in its portfolio of carbon reduction strategies.
While we agree that solely purchasing carbon offsets is not a sustainable long-term strategy, it is a tool that we can utilize to better understand our carbon emissions and fund projects that are environmentally and socially responsible.
Taos Ski Valley has been certified by Climate Impact Partners as a Carbon Neutral company by using high-quality certified carbon credits that have been selected through Climate Impact Partners based on the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, price, and location. Our carbon footprint will be recalculated on an ongoing annual basis with fewer offset purchases each year until we reach Net Zero.

learn more about our CARBON OFFSET PORTFOLIO
MUDBRICK ROCKET STOVES, MALAWI
ALBANY WATER IMPROVED FOREST MANAGEMENT, USA
COMMUNITY REFORESTATION, GHANA
Carbon offset F.A.Qs
WHY DON’T We JUST REDUCE EMISSIONS RIGHT AWAY?
We are working to reduce our direct emissions by adopting EV technologies, diverting waste from landfills through recycling and composting, and improving building efficiency. However, at the moment, there is no way for us to conduct our business without creating some emissions. While we work to reduce these emissions, we know that it is important for us to mitigate our climate impact today, and we are doing this by offsetting our remaining emissions in a way that supports communities around the world and the global transformation of our economy. According to the IPCC, we all need to make "rapid, deep, and immediate" emission reductions to have a chance of staying within 1.5°C / 2.7°F of warming. For emissions we cannot avoid now, we will offset.
WHAT IS CARBON OFFSETTING?
Offsetting is the mechanism through which organizations can compensate for carbon emissions generated by their business activities that are difficult or impossible to avoid, and fund activities throughout the world that are essential to meet a global goal to keep down temperature rise. It operates like a seesaw, with our carbon emissions balanced by equivalent emissions reductions delivered by projects around the world. We are monitoring and calculating the emissions associated with all resort operations. Once we have the total carbon footprint, we then work with Climate Impact Partners to support projects which reduce emissions by buying an equivalent number of carbon credits to compensate for the emissions we can’t yet reduce. This provides a key source of finance for these projects, which deliver positive impacts for people and nature alongside cutting carbon. Each emission reduction we purchase is a ‘carbon credit’ – a unit representing one tonne of carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2e) stopped from being released into the atmosphere or removed from it. These credits are created by projects which are validated to an ICROA-approved carbon standard and are only released for purchase when a third-party auditing body has verified that the reduction has taken place.
HOW DOES OFFSETTING HELP REDUCE THE THREAT OF CLIMATE CHANGE?
Climate change is one of the most serious threats facing global society. We all need to make every effort to reduce our carbon footprint as much as we can, and we should offset the emissions we can’t avoid. Offsetting tackles climate change by:
- Making real reductions in amounts of CO2 being released into the atmosphere that would not have happened otherwise.
- Enabling us to take action now, when time is of the essence, while we develop more opportunities to reduce the footprint of running our business.
- Providing funds for renewable technologies and energy-efficient solutions that we need across the world, which often benefit the communities most impacted by climate change but least responsible for it.
- Putting a price on carbon internally, encouraging us to do more to reduce our carbon footprint.
Does Taos's OFFSETTING PROGRAM MEET ANY INDUSTRY STANDARDS?
Yes. Our projects all follow carbon standards that meet the ICROA Code of Best Practice. These standards have established robust processes of design, monitoring, and independent verification that establish the quality of the projects, the emissions they reduce and remove, how they change "business as usual" and their additional benefits to communities. Climate Impact Partners has played an important role in the development of the voluntary carbon market and led the way in setting standards for the highest quality and impact. All the projects we support are verified to ICROA-approved standards to ensure that the emissions reductions are real, permanent, additional, unique, have established ownership, and are verified. Additionally, our CarbonNeutral® certification is achieved in accordance with The CarbonNeutral Protocol. First developed and published in 2002, The Protocol is revised and updated annually to reflect developments in climate science, international policy, standards, and business practice. It is a publicly available framework developed for business, by business, that draws together leading independent standards for greenhouse gas accounting into a practical guide to carbon neutrality.
WHAT WILL THE MONEY BE USED FOR?
The money spent to offset emissions from resort operations supports projects around the world that cut carbon emissions through the purchase of carbon credits. We are supporting Gyapa efficient cookstoves in Ghana and clean water and cooking in Guatemala. See links above for more information. These projects have to prove that they would not be viable without the income from the sale of carbon credits for companies to offset emissions through them.
HOW CAN WE BE SURE THAT OUR PROJECTS ARE MAKING THE CO2 REDUCTIONS?
Our projects all follow carbon standards that meet the ICROA Code of Best Practice. These standards have established robust processes of design, monitoring, and independent verification that establish the quality of the projects, the emissions they reduce and remove, how they change "business as usual" and their additional benefits to communities. This means that carbon reductions are measured against a conservative baseline and independently verified to prove those reductions have taken place.
What impact do the projects taos supports have on the communities in which the projects are implemented?
Community participation is critical for the success of carbon projects in order to ensure they are sustainable for the long term. All the projects we support consult with local stakeholders before the project is implemented and get feedback from local communities about how the project is impacting them on an ongoing basis. In many projects, local communities are instrumental in running the project and benefit from the implementation of activities that reduce emissions. Community benefits include job creation and improved livelihoods, water quality improvements, reduced indoor air pollution, access to affordable and reliable energy, and improved infrastructure. In addition, Climate Impact Partners is an award-winning project developer and our regular due diligence activities are guided by this expertise – ensuring we only work with projects that maintain high standards on the ground.
WHO PROVIDES Taos Ski Valley's OFFSETTING PROGRAM?
Climate Impact Partners delivers solutions for action on climate. It believes that carbon markets have a critical role to play in delivering action by putting a price on carbon to incentivize change and funding carbon reduction activities to meet our global climate goals. Climate Impact Partners builds on the expertise, integrity, and innovation of two companies that have led the voluntary carbon market – Natural Capital Partners and ClimateCare. Fueled by a relentless drive for rapid action and results, its global team continues to pioneer the market’s growth and set the standards for quality that will maximize its impact. Together with the world’s leading companies and quality project partners, Climate Impact Partners will cut 1 billion tonnes of CO2 by 2030 to transform the global economy, improve health and livelihoods, and restore a thriving planet. It does this by delivering the highest quality carbon-financed projects, from which it creates carbon credit and energy attribute certificate portfolios. This enables organizations like ours to offset the emissions we can’t reduce, put a price on carbon to incentivize change, and meet our climate goals.
WHY DID WE CHOOSE TO WORK WITH CLIMATE IMPACT PARTNERS?
We choose to work with Climate Impact Partners because of its reputation as an expert provider of carbon market solutions for private- and public-sector organizations to address their climate impacts. Its core mission is to deliver 1 billion tonnes of emission reductions by 2030 and we’re delighted to be partnering with them to deliver our carbon offsetting program and contribute to the transformation to a low-carbon global economy.
Carbon Accounting
Taos Ski Valley has worked with the National Ski Areas Association since 2014 to calculate and publicly display its carbon footprint. Prior to 2021, we had only calculated our Scope 1 (emissions from direct fossil fuel use at the resort) and Scope 2 (emissions from electricity purchased from the grid) emissions. Now, with more robust data, help from our environmental consultants, and Climate Impact Partners, we have been able to identify our Scope 3 emissions (emissions from waste, employee travel, and other indirect activities).
Net Zero by 2030 Roadmap
Carbon offsets are a bridge to Net Zero and not a destination in and of themselves. Taos Ski Valley will use the following strategies to reduce its overall emissions on its Net Zero 2030 journey:
- Utilize beneficial electrification in buildings to reduce natural gas and propane usage
- Increase building energy efficiency
- Adopt electric vehicle and equipment technology
- Utilize renewable energy and onsite renewable generation
- Adopt battery storage for grid resilience and to store renewable energy
Commitments
Taos Ski Valley is an endorser of the National Ski Areas Association Sustainable Slopes program and has taken a pledge to be stewards of the environment.

Energy Efficiency |
The Blake is LEED Silver certified and uses Geo-Exchange wells and ground source heat pumps to heat and cool the building |
Snowmaking system uses Sno-Matic, an automation system for efficient snowmaking |
Over 200 HKD high-efficiency snow guns have been installed to reduce electricity and water use |
Replaced three 200HP motors and one 400HP motor with new, high-efficiency motors for our snowmaking operations |
Incorporated occupancy sensor lighting timers in all our new & renovated office spaces to reduce consumption |
Installed variable frequency drives on multiple snowmaking motors |
Invested in lift upgrades that are more energy-efficient, improving older lifts |
Purchased a Wintersteiger tuning machine that uses less electricity and has fewer disposables reducing our waste and energy consumption |
Ecosystem Health & Fire Mitigation |
Continues to work year-round with the Nature Conservancy & The Rio Grande Water Fund to help promote forest health and a clean watershed. |
Partners with the Village of Taos Ski Valley on the river restoration to create a healthier habitat for fish & wildlife |
All-hands, all-lands prescribed burn for forest health in collaboration with the US Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Youth Corps, and the fire department |
Created new diversion gates at the river intakes for our pump stations to allow for better water flow |
Waste Reduction |
Utilizes a BioCoTech food composter that diverts over 90% of food waste from the landfill. In 2021, we diverted over 28,000 pounds of food waste into soil amendment |
Encourages staff members to participate in our "go-green pay-stub initiative" so that they receive electronic pay-stubs instead of printed ones |
Works with Spyder to reduce packaging waste for our uniform program |
Eliminated the use of small toiletries and uses green cleaning products for housekeeping at The Blake |
Participates in "hard-to-recycle" programs such as recycling car batteries, printer ink cartridges, light bulbs, etc. |
Fossil Fuels Reduction |
Taos Ski Valley will be the first ski resort in North America to receive an all-electric Pistenbully Snowcat during the Winter 2023 season |
Will receive 9 all-electric snowmobiles for the Winter 23 season |
Installed 20 EV chargers resort-wide to incentivize guests to commute in plug-in vehicles |
Utilizes locally-sourced products where applicable to reduce shipping and transportation emissions |
Purchased a new PB 600 Polar Snowcat that uses 20-30% less fuel than older cats |
Upgrading grooming fleet to all tier 4 diesel motors to make the fleet more fuel-efficient |
Leases fuel-energy efficient shuttles for our staff and guest shuttle programs |
NetZero 2030 |
Certified CarbonNeutral® by Climate Impact Partners |
Partners with Native Energy to help calculate and offset our carbon footprint of Taos Air to a net-zero impact |
Installed electric submeters resort-wide to better understand energy usage and efficiency project impacts |
Climate Challenge participant since 2015. Annual NSAA Climate Challenge submission and carbon accounting |
Sustainability |
Use Stone Paper for our trail maps, employment guides, and leadership notebooks |
Installed water bottle filling stations to help eliminate single-use plastic throughout the resort |
Utilizes local suppliers whenever possible. We proudly partner with Chemistry, Second Street Brewing, Tea.O.Graphy, Taos Bakes, Zekes Auto Supply, Beck & Bulow, and so many more |
Won the 2017 NSAA Golden Eagle Award for Environmental Excellence |
Won the 2019 NSAA Golden Eagle Award for Innovation in Sustainability Award for the food dehydrator program |
Won the 2021 NSAA Climate Impact Golden Eagle Award |
Retrofitted our new & existing facilities with low-flow water fixtures, waterless urinals, and dual-flush toilets with the goal of reducing water consumption |
Partners with Protect Our Winters |