How Do You Choose Which Carbon Offsets To Invest In?

For centuries now, human activity has been nothing but harmful to the climate. From our households to our transportation, to our industries, we continue emitting harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Mother Earth is now in the blink of being overwhelmed by global warming. What can we do to save ourselves and future generations? One environmental conservation initiative that has shown real potential is carbon offsetting.

Carbon offsets allow you to compensate for the emissions you have made by stopping further emissions elsewhere. All you do is invest in offset programs and that money goes to support initiatives designed to minimize emissions. Such initiatives include campaigning for increased adoption of renewable energy, planting trees, or distributing cleaner cooking stoves.

With an impending climate crisis, all hands should be on deck. Your small carbon offset investment can go a long way in cutting back on your (and your family’s) carbon footprint.

There are tons of offset programs that you can invest in. How can you get the best program for your needs? Here are 6 tips to help you choose:

The “Addition” Question: Do The Carbon Savings A Program Makes Solve Problems That Would Otherwise Have Been Left Unsolved?

Does a given program help reduce greenhouse gas emissions? Does it prevent future emissions? Those are the two obvious questions anyone would ask when investing in a carbon offset program. But there is a third and arguably the most critical question that should guide your investment. Does the program add any value to the already existing environmental conservation initiatives? Consider this example:

A program intended to minimize energy consumption in third-world households by giving them low-energy light bulbs. Of course, at least on paper, that looks like an effective carbon-saving initiative. But then, there is a substantial possibility that the targeted households had other, more convenient means of acquiring the bulbs.

Even without the offset project, those households would still have lowered their energy consumption and carbon footprint. The program cannot, therefore, be said to be additional.

When shopping for an offset program to invest in, it is paramount that you only consider providers who guarantee “additionality”. Good offset providers are able to speculate early enough the potential a project has in cutting carbon emissions.

That’s how they avoid “non-additional” projects that have negligible or redundant social benefits for local communities. In case a promising project turns out to be futile, the provider should have multiple viable contingency plans.

Is A Programme Certified?

There are several certification systems that can reassure you of the authenticity of Carbon offset programs. Some common ones include the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) and the Voluntary Gold Standard (VGS). If a program is certified by VCS or VGS, you can trust it, to a greater extent, to be legitimate. There are also initiatives that audit the effectiveness of environmental conservation programs such as:

  • The Climate, Community & Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA) and
  • Verified Carbon Standard (VCA)
  • Green
  • Australia’s National Carbon Offset Standard (NCOS)

What About Honesty And Transparency?

For starters, all the offsets you buy ought to be logged in to an official registry. You should be able to see the offsets other investors have bought and to track your own investment from the registry. You should also be able to find on a program’s website the standards it uses for quality assurance.

That is how you know for sure that an offset program is honest. Also, you should confirm that the offsets you buy are removed from the market, making them unavailable for future investors.

Is A Program Holistic And Futuristic?

Forest restoration projects are very common with regard to carbon offsetting, mainly because they are pretty effective in soaking up carbon dioxide. But then there are other greenhouse gases such as Nitrous Oxide (N2O) and Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) that are more harmful than carbon dioxide.

For watertight mitigation of climate change, carbon offset programs have to be holistic and futuristic in their offsetting approach. They must invest in technologies that destroy (probably suck directly from the air) not just carbon but all greenhouse gases. As an investor, be keen on supporting offsets that focus on renewable energy projects and not just forest restoration.

Does A Program Leave Room For Unwanted Leakages Or Does It Involve Indigenous Communities?

Leakages in environmental conservation happen when people, industries, farms, and power plants, etc. circumvent conservation rules for their own benefits. A case in point is when top environment polluters opt to relocate to countries/regions with weaker environmental conservation laws.

Another example is when people cut trees in unprotected forests as authorities focus on implementing forest protection laws elsewhere. These leakages are hard to account for because they happen slowly but steadily. Their impact can, however, be minimized through steadfast laws and collaborations between governments and climate organizations.

Most importantly, investors should choose offsetting programs that work closely with local governments and community development organizations. On top of having higher accountability standards, community-led initiatives are more successful in addressing community problems.

Carbon offsetting programs that don’t engage indigenous communities often end up causing- or worsening- other environmental or social problems. They grossly violate the rights of local communities, attract unwanted conflicts, and that becomes the genesis of unwanted leakages.

Does A Carbon Offset Have Longevity?

All carbon offset programs should be designed to last for centuries. That’s just about the same period of time carbon dioxide lasts in the atmosphere. The impacts of your carbon footprint will actually outlive you, your company, and modern civilization. It would, therefore, be dishonest for anyone to purport to reverse their carbon footprint in a few quick installments.

For a more fruitful investment, only invest in programs that have structures in place to cover off liabilities even long after you are gone. This takes us back to the need for more innovative technologies such as clean energy.

That’s as opposed to relying solely on forests that can easily go up in smoke or be encroached by corrupt governments. You need a program that guarantees subsequent offsets as necessitated by future technologies or should the initial offset fail.

Conclusion

They may have their fair share of controversies, but nobody can deny that carbon offsets are substantially helping the environment. Don’t shy away from playing your part in this global initiative. What is important is to do your due diligence on every program you intend to invest in beforehand. Most importantly, minimize your carbon emissions as much as you can even as you invest in offset programs.