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Environment and greener living
Carbon offsetting – balancing your impact on climate change
Everyday actions like driving a car, flying and even using your computer consume energy and produce greenhouse gas emissions - such as carbon dioxide - which contribute to climate change. You can compensate for your unavoidable emissions by paying someone to make an equivalent greenhouse gas saving. This is called ‘carbon offsetting’.
Should you offset your emissions?
Everybody has a responsibility to reduce their carbon footprint - for example by using public transport more often or turning down thermostats. First you should identify how you can avoid or reduce your emissions - where it is not possible or practical to reduce emissions you can offset them.
Is this a ‘cure’ for climate change?
No – offsetting won’t reverse the effects already caused by greenhouse gases. The environmental harm caused by these emissions cannot be undone. By saving an equivalent amount of greenhouse gas elsewhere, however, we can help to minimise current global emissions.
How do offsetting schemes work?
First you need to calculate the emissions you have produced. Then you buy the equivalent amount in ‘credits’ from emission reduction projects that have made a greenhouse gas saving. These projects may be in another part of the world to where you created the emissions. However, it doesn’t matter where greenhouse gases are emitted in the world – the effect on climate change is the same.
You can find providers by searching on the internet. More and more companies, including airlines, are setting up schemes for their customers to offset emissions. When using or buying a service from a company look out for offsetting opportunities.
Providers vary in terms of what they offer and some are more comprehensive than others. Prices are set by the provider, depending on the way they calculate emissions and the different types of projects they support.
Where does the money go?
Some offsetting schemes may involve planting trees but it can take many years for the environmental benefits to be realised - and it is difficult to measure how much carbon is actually saved. Renewable energy and energy efficiency projects can be good projects to support as these can have immediate benefits to the environment.
There are many different types of offsetting projects. Some examples are:
- providing people in Aceh, Indonesia with newly developed solar cookers and heat retention containers for cooking, heating, sterilising water, and preserving food
- implementing energy efficiency measures at a resort-hotel in India
- harnessing run of river (without dams) hydropower in Fiji
- establishing the first wind energy plant in Cyprus
- collecting methane to generate electricity from landfill sites in Durban, South Africa
- generating electricity from the bagasse residue produced by a sugar mill in Ecuador
The quality of offsetting schemes
When purchasing offsets consumers should look out for Certified Emissions Reductions (CERs) to ensure that they receive recognised and reputable credits. CERs are verified by the UN and meet the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol.
To help guide you on the quality of offsetting schemes the government is developing a code of best practice for companies which sell offsets. Companies accredited under the code will be badged with a quality mark to identify their good quality offsets.
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