To Offset or Not to Offset?

Derided by critics as modern-day "papal indulgences" and touted by techno-dreamers as a panacea to global warming, the rationale behind carbon offsets can be confusing. The basic idea is straightforward: reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by increasing activities that capture it and store it (e.g., planting trees), or by increasing activities that prevent more emissions from being released (e.g., wind power, conservation of existing forests).

Reforested hillside generating carbon credits in San Marcos, Honduras/G. Artavia

Countries that have signed the Kyoto Protocol have set limits, or caps, on the total amount of greenhouse emissions permitted. While reducing total emissions remains the primary goal, polluting countries and businesses can also purchase carbon credits (commonly referred to as "offsets") as an alternate way to meet their emissions-reduction targets. These carbon credits are traded in the regulated market through structures like the Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism and the European Union's Emission Trading Scheme. In countries that have not ratified the Protocol (such as the United States) or that lack national regulation, a voluntary carbon-credit market has emerged to satisfy the demand of organizations proactively trying to manage their impact on climate change. Organizations and individuals who take this issue seriously first work to reduce their emissions as much as possible and, as a last resort, purchase carbon offsets to meet their reduction goals.

Some question whether purchasing carbon offsets lessens an organization's motivation to make the behavioral changes necessary to reduce their carbon footprint by allowing them to feel they are "off the hook." Another broad concern has been the lack of verification rigor that would make it easy to understand whether claimed offset activities are effectively capturing and storing carbon.

EcoLogic's experience generating carbon credits for the regulated markets under the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism has allowed us to develop leading practices that create robust carbon credits that also offer social and economic benefits to poor rural communities. EcoLogic has launched its Carbon Plus program in response to the rapid growth in the voluntary market in the United States and Europe. Our guidelines seek to ensure that our carbon offsets: (a) do not replace efforts to reduce emissions (b) effectively capture and store carbon emissions, (c) are credible, and (d) promote conservation-led development and well-being in the communities EcoLogic serves.

What excites Barbara Vallarino, EcoLogic's program officer, about our emerging Carbon Plus program is the array of connections the program makes. "We are linking organizations' behavior to their impact on global warming. We are connecting them to rural communities who can offer an effective and efficient way to reduce their carbon footprint. We are aligning the developed world's demand for ways to decrease its harmful impact on the environment with the abundant supply of conservation opportunities in developing countries."

Because forest loss accounts for 18% of the planet's greenhouse gas emissions, EcoLogic views Carbon Plus as a way to transform the challenge of climate change into an opportunity for forests and forest peoples. Done right, forestry-based carbon offsets can also be a powerful way to engage traditionally marginalized populations in this work of global importance. Implemented with rigor and respect, offsets can transform rural communities into critical lines of defense in our shared struggle against global warming.

Read more on Carbon Plus.

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