Carbon Offsetting - who can I trust?

I have been working as an educator for environmental sustainability for a few years now, and never have I been more disillusioned than in recent times.

I like many others, had confidence and trust in the many “labels” seen on products we consume. ‘Eco-labels’ - Free from Tuna, Sustainable Palm Oil, Carbon Neutral Certs…the list goes on. But as you dig a little deeper, you start to realise that the vast majority of these labels are smoke and mirrors. 

They are in many cases entities that are looking to make a profit above all else. Regardless of the promises and standards, their labels claim. That is not to say that false labelling applies to every business. However the more I research this issue the more of them I uncover. There is a real danger that this blatant greenwashing will create mistrust amongst society and consumers.

Every fortnight, I ask my team to complete research on something different related to environmental sustainability, so we can share our learnings and upskill ourselves on a continuous basis. Personally, I researched the carbon offsetting market.

Unfortunately as I delved deeper into the information available, I began to feel cheated and defeated as I learned that this is also another grey and murky area. It became clear to me that carbon offsetting does not have environmental sustainability’s best interest at heart, and many carbon-offset projects are in fact moneymaking machines for some corporations.

Carbon offsetting allows individuals, organisations and nations to support environmental projects around the world to balance out their own carbon footprint. The danger is that it gives an opportunity for companies to just offset alone and not work towards reducing their actual carbon emissions. 

Offsetting without a previous effort to reduce emissions is pure and simple - green washing. There are oil corporations as well as the sections of the aviation industry, who claim carbon neutrality or sustainable efforts, through simply buying carbon credits. In fact, the majority of the time they do not offset the emissions that they claim they do.

This has left the market flooded with millions of essentially worthless credits. Yet, these credits have the stamp of approval from the leading international standards, and off setters keep attaining them often with no knowledge of the fact they are engaging in a complete farce. 

The volume of carbon-offset projects that rely on tree planting is staggering:

1 tree = 1 tonne of carbon offset – but is that so?

A newly planted tree can take as many as 20 years to capture the amount of CO2 that a carbon-offset scheme promises. When trees and plants die, whether from fires or logging or simply old age, most of the carbon they have trapped in their trunks, branches and leaves returns to the atmosphere. Changes in the climate mean that droughts and higher temperatures will strain forests in the future. The risk is that trees planted as part of offsetting projects could become a source of emissions if they die prematurely.

The way I see it, carbon offsetting as it currently stands is merely saving the planet “on paper”. It is becoming the easier option, the ‘get out of jail free card’ for many corporations to claim carbon neutrality when really, we are adding to the problem that is climate change.

It is not my attention to place everyone in the same box and of course, not all projects are in line with the above, but I am finding it difficult to wade through the waffle and find reliable projects that I personally can get behind.

Blue carbon is a term that refers to the carbon sequestered in coastal ecosystems - sea restoration. To me, restoring the health of the ocean and its inhabitants is far more worthwhile than tree planting. Other projects that I would support are biodiversity projects, bogland restoration, water quality in developing countries but above all, always think LOCAL.

Are there any projects that are local to your community or at least to your country of residence? Can you actually meet with the promoters and find out exactly how the project achieves carbon offsetting?

The unfortunate issue here, is that these local projects might not be “certified” or “approved” by the internationally recognised carbon neutral certification programmes. 

From a business point of view, getting your hands on a recognised certificate of carbon neutrality is a tempting goal. However if these accreditation bodies ask you to invest in projects far away from where you are located, where you can never see the work that’s being completed with your own eyes, I would put a huge question mark over the carbon credits you are buying.

As a business owner myself, my mission is to stand for the decisions I make and that our business decisions are in line with our ethics. Regardless of whether they come with a “carbon neutral label” or not. 

Here is our pledge at FSG;

• Measure and monitor our business’ carbon emissions on a monthly basis.
• Reduce those emissions by changing our own behavior and systems as much as possible.
• Donate to local projects to give back to nature what we are taking from it.
• The END

We will not apply for certs or labels, we believe in what we are doing and that is good enough for us, without fueling a market that is not transparent or sustainable.  

References

Only a few carbon projects meet basic criteria for climate integrity, human rights and more - Compensate

https://www.carboncommunity.org/carbon-community-updates/2021-trend-corporate-greenwashing-and-the-dirty-world-of-offsetting 

https://www.thebluecarboninitiative.org/

https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/