Carbon Offsetting Versus Reducing Emissions

Many countries around the world are trying to prevent the 1.5˚C rise in global temperature, the consequences of which would be devastating. Therefore, companies and individuals are interested in offsetting the carbon that they admit.

What is carbon offsetting?

Carbon offsetting is to compensate for the negative effects of greenhouse gases such as carbon. Traditionally, this involves a company buying carbon credits. Companies need to buy carbon credits to offset the greenhouse gases emitted through business activities.

The idea is actually very simple: give money to a project that removes carbon from the atmosphere to balance out the emissions created.

However, this traditional method of carbon offsetting gives companies free licence to generate emissions without doing anything to reduce them. This is still has a negative impact on the environment. The impact of emitting greenhouse gases and then removing them is not the same as not emitting them at all.

What can companies do?

It is important to remember that continuing to emit and then buying carbon credits is something negative, not just for the environment but also for the wallet. The higher your company’s emissions, the more expensive it is be to offset them. What companies are essentially doing are putting a voluntary tax on themselves.

The best thing to do would be to calculate your company’s carbon footprint, fund the best climate actions, and reduce your company’s emissions. Reducing or eliminating emissions is better than offsetting them.

What can customers do?

As customers, we are being told that it is up to us to choose to compensate for products that are produced by, or produce, high amounts of emissions. It is worth looking at what companies are doing before purchasing their products or using their services, as some will publicly appear that they are tackling climate change while taking no meaningful action.