Southern Africa - Clean Breaks: 500 New Ways to See the World - page 181

The idea of offsetting schemes is to calculate the emissions of carbon dioxide and other
greenhouse gases produced by activities that burn fossil fuel, and then fi nance projects (usually
renewable energy and reforestation programmes) that are supposed to reduce the equivalent
amount of climate-altering pollution. Increasingly you see offsetting schemes claim that this work
renders those activities “carbon neutral”. This last term is extremely debatable, and probably best
forgotten about. Yes, offsetting does fi nance projects that reduce pollution, but it's not the same
pollution, occurring at the same time or in the same place as those original harmful emissions.
Critics of carbon offsetting say that it only delays meaningful action, and accuse many of the
schemes of mismanagement.
The most effective way to reduce carbon emissions directly is to emit less in the fi rst place. Yet
perhaps offsetting shouldn't be dismissed entirely: paying a reputable company to invest in work
that improves the environment is surely a worthwhile endeavour. Some schemes focus just on
emissions caused by fl ights - the fastest-growing contributor to global warming - while others work
out emissions from specifi c train, car and ferry journeys. Below is a guide to how offsetting works
and which schemes to trust.
THE MAIN METHODS OF CARBON OFFSETTING
Tree planting
Most of the early carbon-offset schemes used their income to plant trees, which over the
course of their life cycle were intended to absorb the same amount of carbon dioxide as emitted
on a journey. However, critics object that climate change is too immediate a problem for
us to have the luxury of waiting until a tree has fully grown to clean up what we
have caused today.
There are also other problems with planting trees as a means of offsetting
carbon emissions. Some organizations planted fast-growing species such
as eucalyptus, but these put undue amounts of pressure on another scarce
resource, water. Some tree-plantation projects have also resulted in the removal
of poor communities from their lands. Finally, there has been a regular problem
with mismanagement, with trees being neglected and failing to grow to
maturity, as famously happened in the case of the so-called Coldplay forest,
where a plantation bought to offset the climate costs associated with the tour was
soon neglected.
Keeping the trees in the ground
Deforestation accounts for twenty percent of human-induced climate change. To try to slow this,
certain organizations buy up areas of mature forest and protect them from loggers. The land should
then be returned to some form of community ownership, so local people can benefi t from secondary
forest crops that they often rely upon for their livelihoods. For example, Cool Earth works with
the Awacachi Indians of Ecuador to protect a 3500-square-kilometre corridor of rainforest in the
country. Much of this area is at threat from palm-oil plantations and other logging activities. Working
with local Indians and other partners, Cool Earth is supporting the development of alternative
sustainable enterprises, such as native bamboo production and cacao growing.