Carbon Offsetting Strategies
Understand carbon credits, offsetting mechanisms, and how to build a credible offsetting strategy that complements your reduction efforts.
Your Progress
Section 4 of 5Carbon Offsetting: Balancing the Equation
Carbon offsetting involves investing in projects that reduce or remove greenhouse gas emissions elsewhere to compensate for emissions that cannot be eliminated through direct reduction. While offsetting should never replace reduction efforts, it plays a crucial role in achieving net zero for hard-to-abate emissions.
Effective offsetting requires careful project selection based on additionality (projects that wouldn't happen without the funding), permanence (carbon stays sequestered), and leakage prevention (emissions don't shift elsewhere). Companies should prioritize high-quality credits from reputable standards and diversify across project types and geographies.
Last Resort
Offsetting should only be used for residual emissions after maximizing reductions.
Quality Matters
Choose credits from verified projects with strong environmental integrity.
Transparency
Clearly disclose offsetting activities and their impact on net zero claims.