Is offsetting carbon the solution to the climate crisis?
Lauren Parry avatar
Written by Lauren Parry
Updated over a week ago

Carbon offsetting is not the solution, but we believe it's part of the solution.

Offsetting should not be viewed as a get out of jail free card, where you offset your carbon emissions but continue to live in a way which produces lots of carbon. It goes hand in hand with making lifestyle changes and conscious decisions to reduce your carbon footprint.

Producing carbon in our day-to-day lives is inevitable right now, but we believe it's better to offset carbon than not offset carbon. Carbon offsetting should be used as part of a suite of tools to reduce your footprint, including eating less meat and dairy, eating local produce, travelling less, recycling more and buying less, or second-hand, products.

Climate scientists assert that in order to meet the 1.5°C global warming target set out in the Paris Agreement by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), global carbon emissions should reach net zero by 2050. Net zero means that any carbon emissions emitted are balanced by absorbing an equivalent amount of carbon emissions from the atmosphere.

Carbon offsetting contributes to net zero strategies. For example, the ‘Nature’ solutions you’ll support as part of a CIRCA5000 Carbon Offset plan focus on tree protection. Also known as REDD+ projects, this is short for 'reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries'.

Protecting existing rainforest is one of the best ways to avoid carbon emissions. This is because mature trees absorb more carbon than tree seedlings, which can take ten years before they start to significantly remove carbon. REDD+ projects focus on teaching communities about how to manage their land sustainably, as opposed to allowing forest to be cut down.

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