To see previous Terms of Use, click here .

TERMS OF USE FOR MOBILE APPS FOR CONSUMERS (FOR USERS WHO HAVE REGISTERED ON OR BEFORE 31 MAY 2022)

Effective as of 1 August 2021

Updated 20 January 2022 (Section 5.1.4) -- updates in force from 19 February 2022.

Updated 20 October 2022 (Section 5.1.4).

NOTE: These Terms of Use apply to you if you have created a User Account with us on 31 May 2022 or earlier. If you have created a User Account later than that, please have a look at our new Terms of Use for Consumers (From 1 June 2022 Onward) .

Compensate Base Price

AS OF 11 FEBRUARY 2022, THE COMPENSATE BASE PRICE (THE PRICE OF OFFSETTING 1000 KG OF CARBON DIOXIDE) IS EQUAL TO EUR (€) 28.00 (INCL. 24% VAT).

Welcome to Compensate!

This document contains our Terms of Use, which rule pretty much everything that you do with us. You’re our valued customer, and we want you to be confident that we’re good and honest people that wish to treat you with respect. So, just in case you’re not a law geek, we’re giving you the gist of everything in short terms at the beginning of each section. 

But don’t forget to read the more specific terms that come up next, too, since those are the actual terms that apply to you and us. If the wordings are contradictory or otherwise would lead to differing interpretations, the text under the heading "More specifically" will always take precedence. We apologise for the length of the text, but we’re trying our best to be as clear and concise as possible.

Any lawyers and non-consumers out there: Be sure to skip the short parts and always read and accept only the specific terms. (By the way, if you’re a business customer, you’re probably in the wrong place. Please check out our other Terms of Use that apply to you.)

1. Definitions

First, let’s go over some of the words that have a certain meaning in these Terms of Use. You may use the list as a glossary, and you can always come back to it if something seems unclear in the later parts of the document.

“Compensate”, “We”, “Us”: Compensate Operations Oy (business ID: 2993434-1, registered office in Helsinki, Finland). Note that we’re also legally representing our parent organisation, Compensate Foundation sr (business ID: 2914937-8, registered office in Helsinki, Finland) (the “Foundation”) under these Terms and Conditions.

“Carbon Credit”: A generic term used in the global carbon market to mean a tradeable certificate representing 1000 kilograms (1 metric ton) of CO2 removed or sequestered from the atmosphere or prevented from being emitted into the atmosphere.

“Carbon Footprint Test”: A test that you can take in our Mobile App to calculate your carbon footprint. The test consists of questions about your consumption, living arrangements, hobbies, travel etc.

"Compensate Base Price": The cost of offsetting 1000 kg CO2e as calculated and amended from time to time by us. The Compensate Base Price is determined in accordance with the true cost of offsetting in the carbon market, taking into consideration the effect of Overcompensation, to realise the intended effect on the atmosphere, as evaluated by us.

The Compensate Base Price applicable to you is shown at the beginning of these Terms of Use.

“Compensation Factor”: This is the multiplier that is applied to your Compensation Service order to determine the magnitude of your climate action. By default, your Compensation Service Subscription or one-time Compensation Service comes with a 1.0x Compensation Factor, which means you’re offsetting what you’re emitting. However, our Mobile App may let you opt for different factors as well, such as a 2.0x or 2.5x factor to take even bigger climate action. Conversely, you may be able to opt for smaller factors, such as a 0.5x factor, in case you do not feel like offsetting your carbon footprint fully.

“Compensation Fee”: The fee that we charge you in order to offset your carbon footprint. We spend the Compensation Fee to purchase Carbon Credits or similar units from various climate projects around the world. The amount of the Compensation Fee is based on the carbon footprint of a certain product or service that you purchase and wish to compensate for, or your overall carbon footprint based on your consumption, living arrangements, hobbies and so on. 

“Compensation Service”: The service that we provide to you to offset your carbon footprint by paying the Compensation Fee.

“Compensation Service Subscription”: The Compensation Service that we provide to you on a recurring and automatically renewing basis.

“Mobile App(s)”: Our mobile app(s) that you can install and use on your Android, iOS or possibly other types of mobile device.

“Offsetting (CO2e emissions)”: The act of purchasing and cancelling Carbon Credits with the effect of removing or sequestering carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere or preventing the emission of CO2 into the atmosphere, so as to make good the emission of CO2 into the atmosphere that has taken place or will take place in the future.

“Overcompensation”: This is our policy that instead of just offsetting your CO2e emissions once over, we’re letting you offset more than that to make sure that the positive climate impact that you want to achieve is actually realised. By default, we aim for at least a triple offset factor, which means that you’re normally offsetting your emissions three times over. This is necessary for two reasons. First, there still exist many uncertainties in the global carbon market, and our experts have estimated that some of their climate effects may be exaggerated. To make sure that the positive climate impact that you want to achieve is actually realised, we have to apply a scientifically determined Overcompensation factor. Secondly, merely compensating for one’s emissions once over is not enough anymore. We have reached a point in the climate crisis that we have to remove more CO2 from the atmosphere than we put into it. So, by Overcompensating you’re actually taking a step from carbon neutrality to carbon negativity.

“Payment Method”: A payment card (such as credit or debit card or charge card), a mobile payment method (such as Apple Pay or Google Pay), or another payment method accepted by our payment processors to effect payments for our Services and in our Systems. Any Payment Method must belong to you or be otherwise assigned to you so that you are permitted to use it to make payments.

“Project”: An initiative that carries out measures, which have the effect of removing or sequestering CO2 from the atmosphere or preventing the emission of CO2e into the atmosphere. As a result of such measures, the Project issues Carbon Credits to represent every 1000 kilograms (1 metric ton) of CO2 so removed, sequestered or prevented.

“Rewards”: Virtual tokens, points or other virtual units that we may award to you when you access and use our Services. You may spend or use your Rewards in the Services as described separately. The Rewards have no monetary value, and they cannot be exchanged for cash or any other kind of consideration.

“Services”: Every kind of service that we provide to you, including the Compensation Service Subscription, one-time Compensation Service and any other payable or non-payable service. The term also includes any other contractual relationships that you enter into with us. 

“Subscriber”: That’s you once you’ve registered a User Account with us and started a Compensation Service Subscription.

“Systems”: Every kind of automatic or manual information technology processes and services, software and applications, networking solutions, communications processes and platforms, as well as any other data and information that we operate, maintain, own, possess or otherwise control. The term also includes any and all websites, Mobile Apps, social media accounts and other user interfaces that we publish and maintain. 

“Terms of Use”: The provisions contained in this document and our Privacy Policy ( click here to open ) as well as any written agreement that you and we have signed if there’s a reference to these Terms of Use.

“User”: Anyone accessing or using our Services or Systems, whether or not they are a Subscriber or just enjoying our free-to-use Services and Systems.

“User Account”: The mobile or online account that you may sign up for to access and use our Services.

“User Content": Every kind of communication, personal information and data, images, audio, video, text, computer code and other such material, including chat messages.

“Virtual Items”: Virtual currency, such as virtual money, for use in the Service(s), virtual items within the Service(s), or other virtual goods, that you may purchase or otherwise receive. 

2. Applying these Terms of Use

2.1 Extent of Application

The gist of it:

• Unless you and we agree on something else (but only in writing, to be sure!), the rules in these Terms of Use apply to you and us when you use our Services. Remember, our Privacy Policy ( click here to open ) is a part of these Terms of Use even if it’s located in a different place.

• We may make some changes to these Terms of Use in the future, and those changes might apply to you and us as well if you e.g. take a new carbon footprint test or install our mobile app later.

More specifically:

Your access to and use of our Services are subject to these Terms of Use, which include our Privacy Policy ( click here to open ) as well as any written agreements between you and us expressly appended or otherwise connected to this document. These Terms of Use constitute the entire agreement between you and us, and the Terms of Use shall supersede all possible prior agreements on the same subject-matter between you and us, as well as you and the Foundation, irrespective of the manner in which the earlier expressions of intent arose. We reserve the right to publish supplementary terms and conditions related to certain Services or parts thereof. The applicable supplementary terms and conditions shall apply to the use of such Services in addition to these Terms of Use.

2.2 Accepting the Terms of Use

The gist of it: 

• It’s very important that you read and accept these Terms of Use before you start using our Services. If you don’t read and accept them, please don’t use the Services. As a rule, if you do use our Services, we take it to mean that you’ve read and accepted the current Terms of Use. Also, you need to be at least 13 years old to use the Services. Even then, if you’re younger than 18 years old, you need to get your parent or legal guardian to read and accept these Terms of Use for you.

More specifically:

You must accept the Terms of Use and any Supplementary Terms before you begin accessing or using any Service(s), before you sign up for or renew a subscription to any Compensation Service(s), and before you create, access or use a User Account. 

You must be at least 13 years old when accessing or using any of our Services, or when creating, accessing or using a User Account. If you are between 13 and 17 years old, your legal guardian must read these Terms of Use and accept them on your behalf. If you use any Services via a social media service, such as Facebook or Google+, you must comply with the social media service’s own terms and conditions in addition to these Terms of Use. We shall not be liable for the use of such third-party services nor for their content, irrespective of whether we refer to them or make them available.

You must not allow children less than 13 years old to access or use any Services or User Accounts. You accept full liability for the unauthorized access or use by minors, and you shall be liable for any actions taken by minors using credit cards or other means of payment in relation to the Services.

If you do not accept these Terms of Use, please do not use any of our Services. You can accept the Terms of Use by clicking a selection box or button that indicates your acceptance of the Terms of Use, or by continuing to use the Services after these Terms of Use have been presented to you. 

By downloading, installing, browsing, logging in to or otherwise accessing or using any of our Services you accept these Terms of Use. If you do not accept, you are prohibited from downloading, installing, browsing, logging in to or otherwise accessing or using the Services.

3. Using Our Services and Systems

3.1 Allowed and Prohibited Use

The gist of it:

• You should only use our Services and Systems for personal and non-business use.

• When using our Services and Systems, you should do so with respect to these Terms of Use, the law and good manners. 

• You should not (try to) access or use the Services in a prohibited manner, for example to copy or steal our data, to break our Systems or to access or use our Services or Systems for unlawful purposes. 

• You get the drift: Please enjoy our Services in good faith. Thank you!

More specifically:

The Services and Systems are only intended for personal and non-business use by consumers.

You may only access or use our Services and Systems in accordance with these Terms of Use, the applicable laws and good manners, and only for the purposes stated in these Terms of Use.

Unless otherwise stated in these Terms of Use, you may not:

a) Bypass or attempt to bypass any of the features of our Services or Systems related to controlling usage or preventing copying.

b) Study, scan, or test any vulnerabilities in our Services or Systems.

c) Use any data mining, robots, or other corresponding data collection or data analysis methods.

d) Use bots or other automated methods to access or use our Services or Systems.

e) Use, copy, sell, rent, transfer, license, or otherwise offer our Services or Systems to third parties.

f) Interfere in other Users’ access or use of our Services or Systems.

g) Reverse engineer, decompile, open, or otherwise attempt to source code of our Services or Systems or ancillary technology in whole or in part.

h) Create User Accounts for our Services or Systems using false identities or another person’s identity.

i) Access or use our Services or Systems via any user interfaces other than those provided by us, such as the website or Mobile Apps.

j) Access or use our Services or Systems in violation of applicable legislation.

k) Access or use our Services or Systems in a way that violates the intellectual property rights, business secrets, or privacy of third parties.

l) Access or use our Services or Systems for unauthorized, inappropriate, or unethical purposes or activities.

m) Access or use our Services or Systems for transferring material that includes adware, malware, or spyware, software viruses, or any other computer code designed to disrupt, destroy, or restrict the functioning of computer software or hardware.

n) Modify or cause modifications to files that are part of our Services or Systems without our written consent.

o) Take action that we consider contradictory to the spirit or purpose of our Services, or abuse our customer support services.

p) Attempt to purchase or sell the User Account or provide or rent it to another party, create User Accounts on behalf of anyone other than the User himself/herself, or use untrue personal details, or access or use our Services or Systems if the User Account has previously been deleted by us or if the User has previously been blocked from using a our Services or Systems.

q) Access or use our Services or Systems to advertise or convey any commercial advertisements to anybody, including chain letters, advertisements, or spam, or repeated or misleading messages.

We reserve the right to specify which activities we consider to be in breach of these Terms of Use. 

3.2 User Account

The gist of it:

• While some parts of the Services can be enjoyed without a User Account, others require registration. 

• If you have registered a User Account, please keep your username and password safe and private as you’re responsible for the use of and any purchases made with your account. Let us know immediately if your username or password have been stolen or lost. 

• If you wish to close your account, please contact us at info@compensate.com .

More specifically:

Please note that you cannot use every aspect of our Services or Systems without a User Account. For technical reasons, we may implement a requirement for all Users to register at a minimum an anonymous user account in our mobile app.

When you create a User Account, you must enter correct and up-to-date information as requested during the sign-up process. We ask that you update your information as it changes. Your username, password and are personal. Do not reveal your password to third parties or allow them to access or use your User Account. If you have reason to believe that the security of your User Account has been jeopardized (for example, the theft or loss of your login details), you must notify us immediately and change your login details right away. 

You are responsible for the use of your User Account, including any and all purchases, irrespective of whether you have authorised such use. 

You can close your User Account at any time either through an account closure process in your User Account, or if this is not available, by sending an email to info@compensate.com stating your name and email address along with your wish to close your account. 

3.3 User Content

3.3.1 Responsibility for User Content and Privacy of User Content

The gist of it:

• Any User Content that you upload, send or transmit to, or share with us or other Users should respect these Terms of Use, the law and others’ rights and interests. Make sure that you’re not uploading, sending, transmitting or sharing User Content that is illegal, incorrect, misleading or confidential, or that contains viruses or other harmful content.

• As we can’t actively monitor or pre-approve any User Content on our Services or Systems, we cannot accept responsibility for any inappropriate content or behaviour of others. If you have a dispute with another User in our Services, please try to resolve that directly with them. We can’t act as a referee, and we can’t assume responsibility for any disputes between you. But if there’s a need to investigate any inappropriate or unlawful activity, we may need your help in doing that.

• Also, please remember that we’ll handle any User Content that you upload, send, transmit or share in our Services or Systems as we have clarified in our Privacy Policy (see at the beginning of this document). You shouldn’t expect any of your User Content to be private, because we may have to take a look at it for various technical and legal reasons. If you need to for example communicate with someone in complete privacy, please use some other platform to do that. 

More specifically:

By uploading, sending or transmitting to, or sharing with us or other Users, or otherwise causing to be included in our Services or Systems, any type of User Content you certify that the uploading, sending, transmitting or sharing as well as the User Content are: 

a) free from errors, misleading information and confidential information;

b)lawful and consistent with the Terms of Use, and does not violate third-party rights, and that you have received permission to send or upload the information from the party whose personal data or intellectual property rights are concerned by the material; and

c) safe in the sense that it does not contain viruses, adware, spyware, worms, or other malicious code. 

We shall not be liable for the User Content provided by Users, nor for monitoring any inappropriate content or behavior occurring in the Services. We do not pre-approve User Content, nor are we able to monitor all User Content. You understand and accept that you use the Services at your own risk. By using the Services, you may be exposed to User Content that is offensive, indecent, or otherwise contrary to your expectations. You bear the risk regarding the use of User Content in relation to the Services. 

If you have a dispute with one or more Users, you release us (and our executives, managers, representatives, parent company, subsidiaries, associated companies, and employees) from all liability for claims, demands, and damages of all types resulting from or otherwise connected to such disputes. Compensate shall be entitled but not obliged to participate in disputes concerning interaction in any way. 

You agree to cooperate with us to investigate any suspected illegal, fraudulent, or inappropriate activity, including by allowing Compensate to access any part of your User Account protected by a password.

You understand and accept that all personal data connected with User Content will be processed as described in our Privacy Policy referred to at the beginning of this document. 

We or the service providers we use may, without notification, inspect, monitor, record or otherwise access your User Content and any other communications or interactions on any of our Services for the purposes of performing, maintaining and improving the Services and Systems, of protecting others, ourselves and our Systems, and of ensuring compliance with these Terms of Use and any applicable laws. This also applies to chat texts and messages and other types of written or verbal communication between Users, whether or not they are intended to be private. 

By accepting these Terms of Use, by uploading, sending, transmitting or sharing User Content, or by otherwise accessing or using the Services or Systems, you are granting us your approval for inspecting, monitoring, recording or otherwise accessing your User Content and any other communications or interactions on any of our Services or Systems. You understand and accept that you have no expectation of privacy in relation to any User Content or any other communications or interactions on any of our Services or Systems, including chat texts and messages and other types of written or verbal communication between Users, whether or not they are intended to be private. You also understand and accept that our Services and Systems are not intended for private or confidential messaging or other types of communication or interaction.

3.3.2 Limiting or Terminating Access and Deleting User Content

The gist of it:

• If you (try to) access or use our Services or Systems in a prohibited or disallowed manner, or if we have to do so to protect others, ourselves or our Systems, we may restrict or terminate your access to the Services or Systems, close your User Account, delete any information or data in our Systems, or take other necessary steps. 

• Also, if you haven’t accessed your User Account for at least 180 days, we may close it. 

• Finally, we may have to make some changes to our Services or Systems from time to time.

• In any of these events, you may lose access to your User Content or other data, or your User Content or other data may be deleted. If so, we cannot assume responsibility for any loss or damage to you.

More specifically:

If we have reason to believe that you have been, currently are or attempt to be:

a) accessing or using any of our Services or Systems in a manner that is prohibited or disallowed under these Terms of Use or any applicable laws;

b) causing technical or other security risks or potential or actual legal liabilities to us or our Services or Systems;

c) violating the rights and interests of us, other Users or third parties; or

d) otherwise behaving in a way that is inconsistent with these Terms of Use or any applicable laws

we may, but are not obliged to, without prejudice to our other legal remedies, without advance notification, temporarily or permanently, in part or in whole:

i) restrict, revoke or terminate your access to or use of any Services or User Account(s);

ii) restrict, revoke or terminate your access to or use of our Systems;

iii) restrict, revoke or terminate your access to or use of, or block, combine, delete, modify, move, prohibit, replace or otherwise prevent the availability of any User Content or any other information or data included in any Services, Systems or User Account(s); or

iv) take any other technical or legal action to prevent you from accessing or using any Services, Systems or User Accounts, including any User Content or any other information or data contained therein.

We may inspect, monitor, record or otherwise access any User Content and other information or data at our own discretion, without notification, and for any reason.

We may, without notification, temporarily or permanently, and in part or in whole, suspend, close or delete any User Accounts, or parts thereof, that have not been accessed or used for at least 180 days.

Our Services and Systems are under constant development, so we may alter or remove various components from them, including functionalities and features. Also, we may stop providing or supporting any Services or Systems or parts thereof at any time. In any of such circumstances, we may, without notification, temporarily or permanently, and in part or in whole, restrict, revoke or terminate your access to or use of the Services, Systems, User Account, User Content or any other information or data with immediate effect at any time.

As a result of a system failure or another unforeseen event, our Services or Systems, or your User Account, User Content or any other information or data may be affected without notification, temporarily or permanently, and in part or in whole. In such circumstances, we shall not be liable for their blockage, combining, deletion, modification, moving, prohibition, replacement or other similar effect. Please do not use the Services or our Systems to store or back up any material or information. 

In case of any restriction, revocation or termination of your access to or use of your User Account, any of our Services or Systems, or any suspension, closure or deletion of your User Account, or any blocking, combining, deletion, modification, moving, prohibition, replacing or otherwise preventing the availability of any of your User Content or any other information or data, we shall not be obliged to pay reimbursements, restitution or compensation or make any other monetary payments to you or another person or entity.

4. Payments and Rewards

4.1 Payments

The gist of it:

• Some of our Services, like the Carbon Footprint Test and some other functions in our Mobile App(s), are free for you to use. If some Services require a payment or paid subscription, the price and other relevant information will be shown to you before you make any purchases.

• If you choose a Service that requires a payment or subscription, you should pay the price stated on it following our instructions during the order process. If for any reason your payment fails, we may postpone or cancel the Service. Depending on the Service, we will charge you immediately or in recurring payments. We may charge 7.0 % p.a. interest and charge debt collection fees on any late payments.

• All Compensation Fees and other payments are non-refundable unless you are entitled to exercise your right of withdrawal under Section 5.3. If your User Account is closed or you lose access to or use of it or our Services or Systems for any reason specified in Section 3.4, we cannot reimburse you for any unused or unperformed Services or Virtual Items.

• Starting from 1 January 2021, we’re enforcing Strong Customer Authentication as required by European Union and Finnish law. Whenever you’re making a qualified purchase or starting a qualified subscription, the payment processing system may ask you to verify your identity e.g. through your mobile banking app. Your identity will be verified by the banks or payment processors, and we will not receive any such information. 

More specifically:

Some of our Services, like the Carbon Footprint Test, and certain functions of our Mobile Apps, may be accessed and used free of charge. If accessing or using a Service requires a paid subscription or payment, the price and other payment terms will be shown to you during the order process before starting a subscription or making a purchase.

You undertake to pay for all of your subscriptions and purchases, including any and all applicable taxes and similar charges, made through your User Account. We reserve the right to review and adjust the pricing of our Services at any time. 

Correct and current payment details must be provided when subscribing to or purchasing our payable Services, and a valid Payment Method must be used for payment. Any supplementary fees collected by any applicable Payment Method issuers, such as credit card fees, may be added to the Compensation Fee payable. 

Any and all of your Compensation Fees and other payments will be charged to your Payment Method immediately after you have placed an order. Any recurring payments for a certain Service will be charged with the frequency specified in the description and any additional terms and conditions of the Service. If it is not possible to charge you for all payments, for example due to a technical error, or if your payment details are invalid, or your Payment Method has expired or has insufficient funds, we may postpone the execution of your order until your payment has been charged successfully.

The penalty interest rate for late payment according to the Finnish Interests Act is 7.0 % annually. We may charge you for reasonable debt collection fees if we have to take legal action or other steps to recover a payment.

Any and all Compensation Fees and other payments are non-refundable unless you are entitled to exercise your right of withdrawal under Section 5.3. In case of any restriction, revocation or termination of your access to or use of your User Account, any of our Services or Systems, or any suspension, closure or deletion of your User Account, or any blocking, combining, deletion, modification, moving, prohibition, replacing or otherwise preventing the availability of any of your User Content or any other information or data, in accordance with Section 3.4, we cannot reimburse or otherwise compensate you for any unused or unperformed Services or Virtual Items.

Starting from 1 January 2021, we will enforce Strong Customer Authentication as required by the Second Payment Services Directive (European Union law) and Finnish law. Single purchases over 30 euro (or equivalent in other currencies) and recurring payments totalling 100 euro or five payment instances may trigger an authentication request. Signing up for a subscription with recurring payments may trigger a one-time authentication request. If an authentication request is triggered, your payment processor (bank, Payment Method provider etc.) may ask you to identify yourself using e.g. your mobile banking app. Your identity will be processed by the payment processors in question, and no such data will be communicated to us.

4.2 Rewards

The gist of it:

• If we give you Rewards to use in our Services, they can only be used as instructed. The Rewards have no monetary value, and they can’t be exchanged for cash, goods or services unless stated otherwise. All Rewards are personal and may not be transferred to others unless stated otherwise. You may not sell Rewards to others.

More specifically:

When accessing and using our Services, you may be awarded certain Rewards. Such Rewards may be spent or used within the Services in accordance with their description and any Service-specific terms and conditions. The Rewards may expire in accordance with their description and any Service-specific terms and conditions. 

Unless we state to the contrary in clear terms, in writing, the Rewards have no monetary value, and they cannot be exchanged for cash, for goods or services or for any other consideration. Unless we state to the contrary in clear terms, in writing, all Rewards are personal and may not be transferred to other Users or third parties. No Rewards may be sold to other Users or third parties.

5. Payable Goods and Services

5.1 Compensation Services

5.1.1 Environmental Claims Statement

The gist of it:

• We offer you Compensation Services, which have the purpose of removing CO2 in the atmosphere or avoiding the emission of CO2e into it. Because of that, laws in some jurisdictions state that we have to provide you with scientific or other plausible proof that the Projects that we have in our portfolios, do just that.

• The first thing to know is that the science behind carbon offsetting is clear, and numerous studies have been conducted to determine which kinds of climate measures lead to which results in the atmosphere. Scientists agree that carbon offsetting works as intended.

• Also, to assess the positive climate effects of various Projects, many international standards (like the Gold Standard or Verra) have been developed over the years. Projects that are seen as producing certain climate impact may be awarded international certifications by the organisations behind these standards.

• However, even the most renowned certifications do not always guarantee that all Projects are actually effective. In the past couple of years, climate organisations and news outlets have found out that sometimes even certified projects do not actually work as promised. Their positive climate impact claims may have been exaggerated, or there may be other problems in them.

• To combat these problems, we go much further than to trust international certifications. We have a dedicated Sustainability Department that works every day to keep up to date with the science, and to evaluate any Projects that we come across. On top of that, we actually have gathered a Network of Scientific Advisors consisting of top-level forest and climate scientists. With their help, we’re making sure we’re always on the right track.

• We exercise high caution in selecting Projects in our portfolios. As we have pointed out in our white paper entitled “Reforming the Voluntary Carbon Market” ( https://www.compensate.com/reforming-the-voluntary-carbon-market ), published in April 2021, we currently only accept around 10% of internationally certified Projects. Our experts work tirelessly to evaluate all Projects before adding them on, using very strict criteria. We do this to make sure that every Project in our portfolio will be devoid of any doubt as to their effectiveness.

• Any Project in our portfolios pass current scientific requirements for a verifiable and reliable climate impacting measure with flying colours.

More specifically:

We offer you Compensation Services, which have as their object the removal or sequestration of CO2 from the atmosphere, or the prevention of the emission of CO2e into the atmosphere. As such, our Compensation Services are intended to cause certain positive environmental effects, the realisation of which in many jurisdictions require scientific or other plausible proof.

Carbon offsetting is an activity that has been in use for several decades, both as an voluntary endeavour to limit negative climate effects from CO2e emissions as well as a legally mandated obligation for big manufacturing companies and other major polluters. The positive impacts of carbon offsetting have been studied in depth over the years, and there exists consensus that various climate impacting measures, such as planting trees or reducing deforestation, do in fact have the effect of removing or sequestering carbon dioxide in, or avoiding carbon dioxide emissions into, the atmosphere. To attest to the verifiability and reliability of certain measures, there have been developed a number of international standards to assess and certify such measures. For example, the Gold Standard and Verra are globally renowned certification bodies that only allow such Projects to bear their seal that satisfy the scientifically determined requirements set by the organisations. 

Our Compensation Services that are intended to cause positive environmental effects are backed by ample scientific proof. For years now, we’ve gone through a mountain of scientific studies to understand how climate impacting measures actually affect the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, which measures are the most effective and what are the common pitfalls in the global carbon market. We have a dedicated Sustainability Department that consists of experts working every day to stay up to date on any scientific developments. On top of that, we have gathered a Network of Scientific Advisors that consists of top-level forest and climate scientists and other researchers. We consult the advisors from time to time to make sure that we’re on the right track.

Any Project that will eventually be included in our portfolios will normally bear at least one international certification attesting to the verifiability and reliability of the Project. (We may, however, offer from time to time innovative portfolios that may include, as a minor portion, certain Projects that do not (yet) bear international certifications. Even then, the Projects will be certified by an independent third party such as a university or an expert group.)

However, even the most renowned international standards cannot guarantee that a project produces real climate impact. In the past year, various investigations by climate organisations and news outlets have provided evidence on the fundamental flaws of the voluntary carbon market, allowing loosely set methodologies and non-additional projects to be certified and to issue millions of worthless credits.

For instance, sometimes the positive effects are exaggerated by the Project developers, or sometimes the Projects are not “additional” in the sense that they do, in reality, nothing to further the removal, sequestration or avoidance of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This could be the case for example when a Project claims to save a forest from being cut down when, in reality, there are no foreseeable plans to cut down that forest anyhow.

To combat these uncertainties, we consistently exercise significant caution in selecting Projects in our portfolio. As we have pointed out in our white paper entitled “Reforming the Voluntary Carbon Market” ( https://www.compensate.com/reforming-the-voluntary-carbon-market ), published in April 2021, we currently only accept around 10% of internationally certified Projects. Our experts work hard to evaluate every Project that comes our way, and to be allowed into our portfolio the Project must pass our stringent selection criteria that address characteristics such as additionality, reliable baseline, double counting and so on. We do this to make sure that every Project in our portfolio will be devoid of any doubt as to their effectiveness. As such, these Projects will pass any current scientific requirements for a verifiable and reliable climate impacting measure with flying colours.

5.1.2 Compensation Service Subscription

The gist of it:

• To compensate for your carbon footprint on a recurring basis, you may start a Compensation Service Subscription.

• A Carbon Footprint Test must be taken in our Mobile App for the first time before starting a Compensation Service Subscription. After taking the test and getting a carbon footprint calculation, you may subscribe to a monthly Compensation Fee in the app to offset the footprint.

• You may retake the test at any time, which may affect your Carbon Footprint calculation. After retaking the test, you may subscribe to the new carbon footprint, which may affect the monthly Compensate Fee payable by you. If you’ve already paid a monthly Compensation Fee for that month, the difference between your old and new monthly Compensation Fee will be applied (prorated) to your invoices in the coming months, either as additional charges or rebates. Note that no refunds will be made in cash or other type of payment (keep this in mind if you plan to terminate your Compensation Service Subscription before any excess Compensation Fees have been applied as rebates in your following invoices).

• We may suspend for an indefinite period any Compensation Service Subscription if this is necessary for legal, financial, tax or other such reasons. We’ll notify you 30 days in advance, unless we can’t due to the circumstances. Once the reason for the suspension has cleared, we’ll resume the subscription. We’ll notify you again 30 days in advance, unless the suspension is so short that this is not possible. You may terminate your subscription at any time during the suspension with immediate effect (see Section 8 to see how to do that).

More specifically:

In order to compensate on a recurring basis for the greenhouse gas emissions arising from your consumption, living arrangements, hobbies, travel etc., you may start a Compensation Service Subscription.

A Carbon Footprint Test must be taken for the first time in our Mobile App before starting a Compensation Service Subscription.

The invoicing period of the Compensation Service Subscription is one (1) month, calculated from the start date of the subscription. The subscription shall renew automatically every month until terminated or otherwise expired in accordance with these Terms of Use.

You may recalculate your Carbon Footprint at any time by retaking the Carbon Footprint Test in our Mobile App. After retaking the Carbon Footprint Test, you may subscribe to the recalculated carbon footprint, which may affect your monthly Compensation Fee. The new monthly fee is applied from the date of your new subscription onward.

Subscribing to a recalculated carbon footprint will not affect the start and end date of your invoicing period or the renewal frequency of your Compensation Service Subscription. In case you subscribe to a new footprint before your current invoicing period’s end and your monthly Compensation Fee is changed due to the new subscription, the new monthly fee is prorated (charged in varying amounts according to the number of days in the current invoicing period that the old and new price have been in effect) as follows: 

a) If the monthly Compensation Fee is now lower and you have already paid a monthly Compensation Fee for the current invoicing period, the difference between the old and new fee for the remaining days in the current invoicing period will be refunded to you in the form of a rebate in the subsequent invoicing periods’ invoices. No refunds will be made to you in cash or other forms of payment. Note that if you cancel or terminate your subscription before all refunds have been made in the form of a rebate, you will not receive further refunds.

b) If the monthly Compensation Fee is now higher and you have already paid a monthly Compensation Fee for the current invoicing period, the difference between the new and old fee for the remaining days in the current invoicing period will be added to the subsequent invoicing period’s invoice.

We may suspend, for a specific or an unspecified duration, worldwide or in specific jurisdictions or geographical locations, any Compensation Service Subscription due to a mandatory requirement of applicable legislation or a binding ruling of a competent court, tribunal or public authority, or changes in taxation or other public charges, tolls, levies or other similar payments, exchange rates, or other similar legal or financial reason that would make the continuation of the subscription unreasonable for either Party, or to protect our legal or financial status or rights or interest against a significant threat or unreasonable burden. Unless the reason for suspending the subscription is sudden and unforeseeable, we will notify you 30 days prior to the suspension, specifying its reason and expected duration. Once the reason for the suspension has cleared, we will resume the subscription. We will notify you 30 days before resuming the subscription, unless due to the short duration of the suspension giving such notification is not possible. During the suspension, you may terminate your subscription at any time with immediate effect following the procedure set out in Section 8 below.

5.1.3 One-Time Compensation Service

The gist of it:

• We may offer certain one-time Compensation Services that will not require a recurring subscription, for example to compensate for a specific product, service or event in your life. If so, the description and any specific terms and conditions of the one-time Compensation Service will be presented to you before making any purchases. These Terms of Use also apply to that service.

More specifically:

We may offer, from time to time, certain one-time Compensation Services that you may purchase to offset your carbon footprint for a specific product, service, event or another specific set of circumstances. Purchasing a one-time Compensation Service will not constitute a subscription to a recurring or renewing payable service. 

The description and any specific terms and conditions of the one-time Compensation Service will be presented to you in connection with the service in question. In addition, any one-time Compensation Service will be subject to these Terms of Use.

5.1.4 Compensation Fees

The gist of it:

• Compensation Fees are payments that you make to us to offset your carbon footprint or to take other climate action. The amount of your Compensation Fees depends on your carbon footprint, your chosen Compensation Factor (if available) and the applicable Compensate Base Price.

• If you’ve started a Compensation Service Subscription, your Compensation Fees may vary over time following changes to the Compensate Base Price as well as the way we calculate your carbon footprint (See Section 9 on how we communicate any changes to you.)

• Depending on the applicable legislation and rulings by courts and authorities, we may have to charge value added tax (VAT) on the Compensation Fees. The percentage and amount of VAT charged will be stated in our Mobile App before you make any binding purchases, as well as on your invoice or receipt.

• We may also charge reasonable payment fees (bank fees, Payment Method fees, mobile payment fees etc.) on the Compensation Fees. 

• We will spend the Compensation Fees that you pay to us entirely to purchase Carbon Credits from the voluntary carbon market. This means that we will not take a cut nor make a profit from your fees. Note that we normally pool Compensation Fee payments from multiple customers to purchase Carbon Credits in bulk to ensure optimal climate impact. We may carry out the bulk purchase within a reasonable period from your payment. Our payment processor may take a small commission for handling your payments for us.

More specifically:

As Compensation Fees are payments that are used to offset your greenhouse gas emissions, their amount is based on the amount of greenhouse gases emitted from your consumption, living arrangements, hobbies, travel etc. (your carbon footprint), or on the product or service whose carbon footprint you wish to offset, together with your chosen Compensation Factor (if available) as well as the applicable Compensate Base Price, which may be amended from time to time. We also reserve the right to amend the methods and factors for calculating your carbon footprint or the carbon footprint of the product or service whose greenhouse gas emissions you wish to offset. If you have subscribed to a Compensation Service Subscription, we will notify you of any substantial changes that affect your Compensation Fee. Notifications of any changes referred to in this clause are specified in Section 9 below.

Depending on the legislation and rulings by courts and authorities, we may charge value added tax (VAT) on the Compensation Fees. The percentage and amount of VAT charged will be stated in our Mobile App before you make any binding purchases, as well as on your invoice or receipt.

Reasonable supplementary fees collected by payment processors, such as bank fees or Payment Method fees may be added to the Compensation Fee payable by you. The amount of such fees will be stated in our Mobile App before you make any binding purchases, as well as on your invoice or receipt.

We undertake to purchase Carbon Credits from Projects in our portfolio, and to use the entire Compensation Fees for purchasing the credits. Our payment processor may take a small commission for handling your payments for us. In order to ensure optimal climate impact and to limit our administrative costs, we normally pool Compensation Fee payments from multiple customers and purchase Carbon Credits in bulk. In such case, no Carbon Credit purchase is exclusively tied to a particular User or payment made by that User. We may carry out the bulk purchase within a reasonable period after receiving payments.

5.2 Other Purchases

5.2.1 Virtual Items

The gist of it:

• We may offer Virtual Items for you to buy or receive from us to use in the Services. Virtual Items are non-refundable even if you cancel your purchase. Unless we state otherwise in writing, they have no monetary value and they cannot be exchanged for e.g. cash. They also may not be transferred or sold to others. For reasons stated in Section 3.4, we may have to limit your access to Virtual Items you have purchased or received, in which case we cannot assume any liability for any loss or damage. If such limitation is not due to your fault or other reason for which you’re responsible, we may reimburse you for any Virtual Items you have lost, adjusted to their current value.

More specifically:

Some of our Services may allow you to spend real money to purchase or receive Virtual Items. You may only purchase or receive Virtual Items in our Services or from authorised resellers, in either case subject to availability.

All purchases of Virtual Items are non-refundable. Any purchases of Virtual Items are excluded from your right of withdrawal under Section 5.3.

Unless we state to the contrary in clear terms, in writing, the Virtual Items have no monetary value, and they cannot be exchanged for cash, for goods or services or for any other consideration. Unless we state to the contrary in clear terms, in writing, all Virtual Items are personal and may not be transferred to other Users or third parties. No Virtual Items may be sold to other Users or third parties.

For reasons specified in Section 3.4, we may restrict, revoke or terminate your access to or use of, or block, combine, delete, modify, move, prohibit, replace or otherwise prevent the availability of Virtual Items at any time. In such case, we cannot assume liability for any loss or damage to you, another User or a third party. If the cause leading to an effect listed in this clause cannot be attributed to you or fault or another reason for which you are responsible, we may reimburse you for any unused or unperformed virtual currency, virtual items or goods or services. In such case, the amount of reimbursement may be adjusted according to the current value of the virtual currency, virtual items or goods or services.

5.3 Right to withdraw (cancel)

The gist of it:

• If you’re a consumer, you may usually withdraw from (cancel) any distance contract of sale to purchase goods or services from us, within 14 days from receiving the goods or from the order date of the services. (Any purchases of Virtual Items are excluded.) Distance contract of sale means a contract that you have concluded e.g. online in our Mobile App or website, which is usually the case when you order something from us.

• You do not have to state any reasons for your decision to withdraw. However, you should always send us some kind of clear notice that you wish to withdraw from a particular contract for certain goods or services.

• Please note that if we’ve already performed (with your permission!) the service that you’ve purchased, you may not be able to withdraw completely or at all. Kindly contact us at info@compensate.com if you wish to withdraw, and we’ll help you from there.

• If you do withdraw from your purchase, we will refund you for the goods or, if possible, for the parts of the service that we haven’t yet performed. We’ll make the refund within 14 days to the Payment Method that you’ve used to make the purchase.

• When withdrawing from a distance contract of sale for the purchase of goods, you should refuse delivery of the goods or mail them back to us within 15 days. (Don’t forget to give us a clear notice of withdrawal in either case!) Unless we agree on something else, you have to pay the postal fees for the return. Make sure that the goods are in unused condition and packed well so that they won’t get damaged during the return. 

More specifically:

You, as a consumer, are entitled to withdraw, without stating any reasons, from the Compensation Service Subscription, or any one-time Compensation Service purchase or any other distance contract you have made with us for the provision of services, within 15 days from the conclusion of the contract. Distance contract of sale means a contract that you have concluded e.g. online in our Mobile App or website, which is usually the case when you order something from us.

However, there is no right of withdrawal if we have performed the first month’s Compensation Service Subscription, one-time Compensation Service or another service in full with your prior express consent and acknowledgement of the waiver of your right to withdraw from the contract. If we have provided the first month’s Compensation Service Subscription, or the one-time Compensation Service or another service partially under these circumstances, you may be entitled to withdraw from the part of the contract that we have not yet performed. 

When starting a Compensation Service Subscription or purchasing a one-time Compensation Service, or making another contract for the provision of services, you will be asked for your prior express consent to the immediate performance of the Compensation Service Subscription, one-time Compensation Service or another service as well as to acknowledge your waiver of your right to withdraw from the Compensation Service Subscription, one-time Compensation Service or another service, in accordance with art. 16(1)(a) of Directive 2011/83/EU.

You, as a consumer, are also entitled to withdraw, without stating any reasons, from any distance contract of sale to purchase goods from us, within 15 days once you or a person indicated by you has received the goods. Distance contract of sale means a contract that you have concluded e.g. online in our Mobile App or website, which is usually the case when you order something from us. Any purchases of Virtual Items are excluded from your right of withdrawal. If you have purchased goods that are delivered to you in multiple shipments, the withdrawal period will begin from the date of delivery of the last item. If you have subscribed to a contract where we deliver goods to you on a recurring basis, the withdrawal period starts from the delivery of the first item.

If you are entitled to withdraw from the distance contract of sale in accordance with the foregoing, you can do so by sending us an email at info@compensate.com stating your name, email address as well as your desire to withdraw from the contract and, if applicable, the specific goods or services that you wish to withdraw from. Alternatively, you may withdraw from the distance contract of sale using a dedicated process in your User Account insofar this option is available. You may choose the phrasing of your notice, but you may also use this official form:

— To Compensate Operations Oy:

— I hereby give notice that I withdraw from my contract of sale no. [CONTRACT NUMBER] of the following goods/for the provision of the following service: [IF APPLICABLE, LIST OF GOODS OR SERVICES THAT YOU WISH TO WITHDRAW FROM],

— Ordered on [DATE OF ORDERING SERVICES]/received on [DATE OF RECEIVING GOODS],

— Name: [YOUR NAME],

— Address: [YOUR POSTAL ADDRESS],

— Date [DATE OF THIS NOTIFICATION].

Download a pre-filled WITHDRAWAL FORM FOR A COMPENSATION SERVICE CONTRACT (pdf): Click here

When withdrawing from a contract of sale for the purchase of goods, you must either refuse the delivery of the goods or ship them back to us within 15 days from the date on which you informed us of your decision to withdraw. In either case, you must still inform us in clear terms that you wish to withdraw from the particular contract. Merely refusing delivery or shipping the goods back without a clear notice may not suffice. Any goods that you return must be in unused condition, and you bear the risk of damage during the return. Please package the items properly.

If you withdraw from a contract of sale for goods or services, we will refund to you any payments that we have received from you for the goods or services in question. Unless we agree on something else, we will pay the refunds using the payment method that you used for the purchase. We will pay the refunds within 15 days from the date that we received your notification to withdraw, however in case of goods as soon as we have received the items back. In case of services, we will refund any portion of the payments for which the services have not yet been performed. Any payment fees (bank fees, Payment Method fees etc.) that you incurred when purchasing the goods or services, or the direct costs of returning goods (postal fees) will not be refunded.

6. Proprietary Rights

6.1 Intellectual Property

The gist of it:

• Everything that you find in our Services or Systems is the property of us or our business partners. Unless otherwise specified, you do not have any intellectual property rights to our Services and Systems. You should also understand that you do not own or control anything (such as copyrights) related to your User Account or User Content or other parts of our Services or Systems. We ask that you don’t create anything original in our Services or Systems, including your User Account.

More specifically:

All rights related to our Services or Systems, such as patents, trademarks, copyrights and other proprietary rights, belong to us, our subcontractors or our actual or potential licensors. This applies to all of our Services and Systems, including all Mobile Apps, titles, machine-language and source code, themes, characters, character names, stories, dialog, slogans, concepts, illustrations, animation, audio, compositions, audiovisual effects, texts, operating methods, moral rights, documentation, technical records of the usage of the Mobile Apps, and the Mobile Apps’ software and server software. 

Unless otherwise specified, these Terms of Use do not grant you any intellectual property rights to our Services or Systems. We, our subcontractors and actual or potential licensors reserve all rights that are not expressly granted to you or someone else in these Terms of Use.

You acknowledge and agree that you do not own or control any title or proprietary rights, including but not limited to copyrights, to your User Account or User Content.

You acknowledge and agree that you do not own or control any title or proprietary rights to any other content in our Services or Systems, including but not limited to Virtual Items or Rewards, or any other features present in our Services and Systems, whether or not connected with your User Account.

6.2 User License from Us to You

The gist of it:

• To enjoy our Services and Systems, we’re giving you a license to access and use them in accordance with these Terms of Use. The license is only meant for you, and you may not share, sell or give it to anyone else. It’s only limited to your access to and use of our Services and Systems and not anything else. You may only access and use our Services and Systems for your personal and non-commercial purposes. We may revoke the license at any time. Just to make it clear, we’re not giving you any rights to our intellectual property, and you may not use any of our intellectual property to claim or register a similar intellectual property right (e.g. a trademark, domain name or social media handle).

More specifically:

We grant you, subject to these Terms of Use, a non-assignable, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, limited and revocable license in connection with using our Services and Systems. You may only use the Services and Systems for personal and non-commercial purposes.

All the rights related to the Services and Systems belong to us and our subcontractors and our actual or potential licensors. You are not granted any title, intellectual property rights or other rights to the Service. 

You may not claim or register any patent, trademark, model, trade name, copyright, domain name, email address, social media account or any other public account or handle that can be confused with the trademarks, copyrights or other intellectual property, including slogans and identifiers, of us, our subcontractors or our actual or potential licensors. 

6.3 License from You to Us

The gist of it:

• You’re giving us your permission to use your User Content for example for marketing or promotional purposes. This includes your name, likeness and any texts, photos, videos etc. that you create or store in our Services or Systems. You’re responsible for making sure that you’re the creator of your User Content and that your content does not infringe the rights of others. If we do use your User Content, we don’t have to name you as the creator of the content. However, you’re still free to use your User Content for your own purposes, too. 

More specifically:

By accepting the Terms of Use, you grant us an perpetual, unlimited, irrevocable, royalty-free, transferable, sub-licensable and global license to publish, broadcast or otherwise cause to be presented in public, reproduce or otherwise use any and all of your User Content. We may use the User Content in any manner we deem fit, including for the purpose of marketing and promoting our Services or Systems. The license includes the usage of your name, likeness, textual and audiovisual expressions created or stored in our Services or Systems as well as all other information or material concerning all of the User Content without any express obligations to you. 

By accepting these Terms of Use, you warrant and represent that you are the creator of your User Content that the content does not infringe the proprietary rights of others.

Unless otherwise stipulated in compelling legislation, you surrender all moral rights and rights to be acknowledged as the creator of your User Content, irrespective of whether the User Content you created is modified or altered in any way. 

We will not present demands concerning the proprietary right of your User Content, and nothing in these Terms of Use is intended to limit your own rights to use and exploit your User Content. We are not obliged to control or enforce the intellectual property rights related to your User Content.

7. Limitation of Liability

The gist of it:

• While we are doing our best to keep our Services and Systems available to you at all times, we cannot assume any liability if your access to or use of them is disrupted for any reason. Also, we can’t promise that the Services are as described by us or as you expect them to be. 

• There are also certain risks and uncertainties related to carbon offsetting. We take great care in selecting and continuously evaluating the Projects in our portfolio, but we can’t guarantee their effectiveness. We are only responsible for making sure that your Compensation Fees are spent on purchasing Carbon Credits from those Projects as promised.

• In any case, we cannot assume responsibility for any indirect, consequential, corresponding or immaterial damage that you may incur from accessing or using our Services. Also, in any case, our total liability is limited to the amounts of money that you have paid to us. 

• If applicable and mandatory laws prohibit certain limitations of liability, such limitations do not apply to you as a consumer. If any provisions of these Terms of Use become invalid or unenforceable due to such laws, any and all other provisions remain in effect.

• If we need to defend ourselves against legal action or other action as a result of your use of our Services or your breach of these Terms of Use, you must protect and defend us against any such action, including against any monetary claims and legal fees. However, this only applies if you have caused the action through wilful or negligent behaviour.

More specifically:

We endeavour to maintain the functionality of our Services and Systems, but please be aware that we may temporarily or permanently suspend any of the Services or Systems at any time. We offer the Services and Systems to you as they are described on our website or other user interfaces, in our agreements with you or in other materials that we provide to you. However, we cannot give any guarantees or make any representations that our Services and Systems are suitable for you or your purposes, or that the Services and Systems are free from errors and available at all times. 

You acknowledge and agree that various risks are associated with carbon offsetting and other climate actions. We exercise care and due diligence in selecting the Projects providing Carbon Credits and taking other measures to help the climate, but we cannot assume responsibility for the effectiveness of those Projects. We are only responsible for ensuring that the Compensation Fees that we pay out to the Projects are spent on purchasing Carbon Credits from those projects.

In any case, we cannot be held liable to you for any indirect, consequential, or other corresponding damages, including loss of revenues or profits, lost information, or business disruption, or corresponding intangible losses that are in any way due or related to these Terms of Use or our Services or Systems. Also, the total joint liability of us, including the Foundation, is limited to the sum of money that you have paid to us in accordance with the Terms of Use over the six months preceding the date on which you have first presented your original claim to us. If you have not paid anything to Compensate during this period, your sole legal remedy is to discontinue the use of our Services and Systems and to terminate your User Account.

Some legal systems do not permit the exclusion of certain additional guarantees or liabilities in regard to certain types of damage. In such case, these Terms of Use do not limit any of your statutory rights as a consumer under applicable and mandatory laws. If any affected provisions in these Terms of Use become invalid or unenforceable as a result, this does affect the application of any and all remaining provisions.

You undertake to protect and defend Compensate and the Foundation (including our executives, managers, brokers, joint projects, and employees) against legal action or other action, claims, demands, claims for damages, and losses, including reasonable legal fees, brought or claimed by a third party for a breach of right or interest or any other cause of action, as a result of your use of our Services or Systems or as a result of your breach of these Terms of Use. However, the foregoing shall not apply if the circumstances from which any of the foregoing have arisen are unconnected to your wilful action or negligence.

8. Validity and Termination

The gist of it:

• These Terms of Use start to apply to you and us from the first time you access or use our Services or Systems, and they continue to apply until duly terminated or otherwise expired. You may terminate your Compensation Service Subscription or close your User Account at any time, either through a dedicated function in your User Account (if available) or by e-mail at info@compensate.com . Your subscription will then expire at the end of the current invoicing period. Please note that any unused rebates for Compensation Fees will not be refunded in cash or otherwise.

• If you terminate one or more Services, this may lead to other Services being terminated as well. If you close your User Account, you may lose access to it or your User Content immediately. If you’re a Subscriber, closing your User Account will automatically lead to your Compensation Service Subscription being terminated as well. We may also terminate one or more Services or the application of these Terms of Use by notifying you.

• If these Terms of Use are terminated or otherwise expired, some parts will nevertheless remain in force because they are by their nature intended to do so. Such parts include (but are not limited to) our Privacy Policy (see at the beginning of this document), Section 6 (Proprietary Rights), Section 7 (Limitation of Liability) and Section 10 (Applicable Law and Dispute Resolution).

More specifically:

These Terms of Use start to apply to you whenever you’re first accessing or using our Services or Systems. As a legally binding document, these Terms of Use will remain in force indefinitely, until duly terminated or otherwise expired in accordance with these Terms of Use. 

If the application of these Terms of Use is terminated or otherwise expired in relation to certain Services, they will nevertheless remain in force in relation to all other Services and our Systems until duly terminated or otherwise expired.

You may terminate the Compensation Service Subscription at any time. Following termination, the subscription shall expire at the end of the current invoicing period. 

In addition, you may close your User Account at any time. If you are a Subscriber, closing your User Account will also terminate the Compensation Service Subscription with effect at the end of the current invoicing period.

You may terminate the Compensation Service Subscription or close your User Account directly through your User Account if this function is available. Alternatively, you may terminate your Compensation Service Subscription or close your User Account by sending an email to info@compensate.com , stating your name and email address as well as your wish to terminate the Compensation Service Subscription or to close your User Account. 

Please note that if you close your User Account relation to one or more Services, it may lead to your User Account being closed also in relation to other Services.

If you close your User Account, you may lose access to your User Account and any related User Content immediately.

We may terminate one or more Services or the application of these Terms of Use or part thereof with immediate effect by issuing written notice at any time.

All provisions of these Terms of Use that are by their nature intended to survive the termination or expiry of the Terms of Use shall remain in force even after the termination or expiry. These include but are not limited to our Privacy Policy (see at the beginning of this document), Section 6 (Proprietary Rights), Section 7 (Limitation of Liability) and Section 10 (Applicable Law and Dispute Resolution). 

Upon termination or expiry of these Terms of Use, no unused rebates for Compensation Fees shall be refunded in cash or otherwise.

9. Changes to the Terms of Use and Compensation Fees

The gist of it:

• We may have to change these Terms of Use, the Compensate Base Price or other basis for calculating the Compensation Fee from time to time. We may especially have to increase the Compensate Base Price if the price of offsetting in the carbon market rises. Also, we may have to add or change the amount of tax or similar charges payable on top of or included within the Compensation Fees if the laws change or authorities require charging taxes or similar public charges.

• We’ll publish any material changes on our website. Also, if the changes are material and increase the Users’ Compensation Fees or other obligations, or lessen their rights, under these Terms of Use, we’ll also notify all affected Users by email and/or through our Mobile Apps.

• Usually any changes will take effect after 30 days from the publication and possible notification. However, if the changes result from sudden and unforeseeable changes in the law, or taxation or similar charges, or exchange rates, or from sudden and unforeseeable legally binding orders by courts, public authorities or similar bodies, the changes may take effect immediately at their publication and notification. If you don’t receive a notification when it’s due, that won’t affect the taking of effect of them, if the failure to receive has resulted from a reason on your side.

• If you don’t agree to material changes that increase your Compensation Fees or other obligations under these Terms of Use, you must terminate your Compensation Service Subscription and cease using or accessing our Services and Systems before the changes take effect. (See Section 8 on how to do that.) If you don’t terminate your subscription, or if you continue to use or access our Services or Systems after the changes have taken effect, we take it to mean that you have accepted the changes.

• However, if the material changes substantially and disproportionately increase your Compensation Fees or other obligations, or lessen your rights, under these Terms of Use, we’ll ask for your specific acceptance before the changes take effect. Any justifiable changes leading to an increase in the Compensate Base Price, or to changes in other bases for calculating the Compensation Fees, or any changes leading to the inclusion of taxes or similar public charges within your Compensation Fees, are not considered as material changes that substantially and disproportionately increase your Compensation Fees or other obligations, or lessen your rights, under these Terms of Use.

More specifically:

We may alter these Terms of Use, the amount of the Compensate Base Price or other bases for calculating the Compensation Fee, and, therefore, the amount of your Compensation Fee if this is necessary due to a material change in circumstances, due to changes in the operating costs, purchasing costs, or other costs relating to our Services or Systems, or due to other valid reasons.

We may especially increase the amount of the Compensate Base Price if the price level of Carbon Credits in the carbon market increases to the extent that maintaining our intended level of Overcompensation is no longer reasonably possible with the current base price when taking into consideration the composition of Projects in our portfolio, our average and median sales and other circumstances. The determination of whether Overcompensation is reasonably possible is made by our experts from time to time. Conversely, we will decrease the amount in case the price level of Carbon Credits in the carbon market decreases.

In addition, we may change the amount of the Compensate Base Price and/or your Compensation Fees if changes in applicable legislation or binding rulings of courts or public authorities require charging or paying taxes, other public charges, tolls, levies or other similar payments, on Carbon Credits or the Compensation Fees. We may either add such taxes, other public charges, tolls, levies or other similar payments on top of the Compensate Base Price and/or Compensation Fees, or we may include them within the Compensate Base Price and/or Compensation Fees. Conversely, we will remove or decrease the amounts of taxes, other public charges, tolls, levies or other similar payments if they are no longer required.

Any material changes to the Terms of Use, the amount of the Compensate Base Price or other bases for calculating the Compensation Fees, or additions on top of or inclusions within the Compensate Base Price and/or Compensation Fees of taxes, other public charges, tolls, levies or other similar payments will be published on our Website. Immaterial changes, such as ordinary fluctuations in exchange rates or ordinary changes to payment processing fees, will not be published. In addition, any material changes that increase the Users’ Compensation Fees or other obligations, or lessen their rights, under these Terms of Use will be notified to all affected Users by email at the email addresses they have provided to us, and/or by a notification in the Mobile Apps (if available). 

Any material changes to the Terms of Use, the amount of the Compensate Base Price or other bases for calculating the Compensation Fee will take effect 30 days after they are published and, if applicable, notified to all affected Users as described above. However, any material changes to these Terms of Use, Compensate Base Price or other basis for calculating the Compensation Fee, or additions on top of or inclusions within the Compensate Base Price and/or Compensation Fees that result from a sudden and unforeseeable change in the applicable law, taxation, other public charges, tolls, levies or other similar payments or exchange rates, or from an unforeseeable legally binding decision or order of a judicial court or other tribunal or a public authority or similar body, or a sudden and unforeseeable change thereof, will take effect immediately at their publication and, if applicable, notification to all affected Users as described above. Any failure to receive the notification by you will not affect the taking of effect of the changes if such failure is due to a factor attributable to you or your email provider, your network provider or another provider on your end essential to transmitting the notification to you. 

If you do not agree with any material changes that increase your Compensation Fees or other obligations, or lessen your rights, under these Terms of Use, you must terminate your Compensation Service Subscription and cease accessing and using our Services and Systems before the changes take effect. (The procedure for terminating your Compensation Service Subscription is described above in Section 8.) In your notice to terminate the Compensation Service Subscription, please mention that you do not agree with the pending changes, in which case your subscription will be terminated prior to the taking of effect of the changes. 

If you do not terminate your subscription, any changes affecting your Compensation Fee, or obligations or rights under these Terms of Use, will be applied to your current invoicing period from the date on which the changes take effect onward. If you continue to use or access our Services or Systems after the changes have taken effect, we take it to mean that you have accepted the changes.

However, if any material changes substantially and disproportionately increase your Compensation Fees or other obligations, or lessen your rights, under these Terms of Use, we’ll ask for your specific acceptance before the changes take effect. Any justifiable changes referred to above resulting in an increase in the amount of the Compensate Base Price or changes to the other bases for calculating the Compensation Fees, or any changes referred to above resulting in the inclusion of taxes, other public charges, tolls, levies or other similar payments within your Compensation Fees, are not deemed as substantially and disproportionately increasing your Compensation Fees or other obligations, or lessening your rights, under these Terms of Use.

10. Applicable Law and Dispute Resolution

The gist of it:

• These Terms of Use and our contractual relationships are governed by the laws of Finland. 

• If you have any legal issue with us, we’d love it if you could talk it over with us first. To do that, please send us a message at legal@compensate.com . If our talks fail, you or we may propose we take the issue to an impartial mediator. As a last resort, any disputes are settled in the Court of First Instance in Helsinki.

• As a consumer residing in the EU, you may also file a claim against us using the European Commission’s Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) service ( ec.europa.eu/odr ) to resolve a dispute with us. Also, you may file a claim at the Finnish Consumer Dispute Board, available at www.kuluttajariita.fi and www.kuluttajaneuvonta.fi .

• These Terms of Use do not limit your rights as a consumer under applicable and mandatory laws. If any provisions of these Terms of Use become invalid or unenforceable due to such laws, any and all other provisions still remain in effect.

More specifically:

These Terms of Use are governed by and construed under the laws of Finland, with the exception of choice of law provisions whose application would lead to the Terms of Use being governed by or construed under foreign laws.

We recommend that any disputes arising from the use of our Services or Systems and from these Terms of Use are resolved primarily by negotiation between you and Compensate. Please contact our legal customer service team first at legal@compensate.com . 

If you and we are unable to reach a negotiated settlement to a dispute concerning the Terms of Use, you or we may propose a mediation procedure. If no settlement can be reached, the dispute shall be settled by the Court of First Instance in Helsinki. 

You, as a consumer residing in the European Union, may also use the European Commission’s Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) service ( ec.europa.eu/odr ) to resolve a dispute with us. Also, you may file a claim at the Finnish Consumer Dispute Board, available at www.kuluttajariita.fi and www.kuluttajaneuvonta.fi .

These Terms of Use do not limit any of your statutory rights as a consumer under applicable and mandatory laws. If any affected provisions in these Terms of Use become invalid or unenforceable as a result, this does affect the application of any and all remaining provisions.

Contact

Please send all notifications, questions, or demands related to our Services or Systems to us: 

Legal Team

Compensate Operations Oy