To truly make a difference in carbon emissions, de Belloy says offset projects have to fulfill a concept carbon offset groups call “additionality” by providing an additional benefit that would not have occurred without money from the carbon offset group.įor example, if you were to pay someone to preserve a forest, it would count as an offset if that forest had originally been scheduled for development. “There are a lot of questionable offsets out there,” she adds, “and it can be difficult to navigate the sometimes-murky world of offsets.” “Consumers and companies should look first to reducing their emissions before looking to source offsets for those emissions reductions that are not possible or are not cost effective in the near term,” says Kelley Kizzier, an expert in carbon markets at the Environmental Defense Fund. Under that regulatory framework, a company that emits less than their legally-mandated limit can sell a “credit” to a company that exceeds a legal limit and therefore faces a potential fine. Voluntarily purchased carbon offsets are also distinct from the kinds of carbon credits used in a cap-and-trade system. “When you donate to a big environmental non-profit, you don’t know exactly what the impact has been.” “The real difference is when you buy an offset, you are verifiably reducing carbon emissions,” says de Belloy. ![]() Why not just donate directly to a charity that builds cookstoves? Cool Effect estimates one new stove could reduce three metric tons of carbon emissions per year. To more than offset that cross-country flight, a consumer could pay $8.50 to a program in Honduras that replaces open fire cooking pits with custom-built brick and mortar stoves that require less wood to cook meals and funnel smoke outdoors via a chimney. Their emissions-reducing programs vary from planting trees to providing communities with clean-burning cookstoves. The term offset just means you’re using that ton to offset a ton you have put into the atmosphere.” Marisa de Belloy, CEO of Cool Effect, thinks of climate issues like a math problem.Īn offset purchased from their site, she says “is equal to one ton of carbon emissions that were not emitted. If you’re looking to purchase an offset to feel a little less guilty about flying, here’s what you should know. ![]() The offsets you might buy for a flight have no federal oversight, and not all have transparent business practices. Some say the focus on individual actions distracts from the more impactful improvements that happen when industry is regulated.Ĭurrently, countries signed onto the Paris Climate Agreement are negotiating rules for an international carbon market to buy and sell carbon credits, though experts say those rules would impact large-scale emitters, not individuals purchasing low-cost offsets. The market-based approach to reducing emissions is not without criticism. Gold Standard, an organization that certifies carbon offset programs, has seen individually purchased offsets quadruple over the past year. ![]() In the past year, Google searches for “ carbon offsets” have been on the rise, and those who sell them say their sales are up.Ĭarbon offset vendor Cool Effect says individual purchases of their carbon offsets have risen 700 percent since May. If you feel guilty about those climate-warming carbon emissions, you might be tempted to purchase a carbon offset. Spend about 10 hours flying this holiday season and your travel could add as much as a metric ton, or 2,000 pounds, of carbon to the atmosphere. When 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg sailed across the Atlantic Ocean on a zero-emissions boat, she did so to make a point about the millions of tons of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere every year as a result of air travel.
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