http://maydayblog.com/2007/11/27/sanity-check-on-carbon-offsetting/ brendan may on the choices facing our planet Wed, 15 Oct 2008 21:24:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2 http://maydayblog.com/2007/11/27/sanity-check-on-carbon-offsetting/#comment-12 Martin Wright Wed, 28 Nov 2007 16:59:28 +0000 http://maydayblog.com/2007/11/27/sanity-check-on-carbon-offsetting/#comment-12 Good to see my enthusiasm for the best kind of offsets rubbed off on Brendan. But just to balance my enthusiasm a bit, I should say that I agree with the 'offset-sceptics' that there is a lot that's wrong with the way many such schemes have been constructed and sold in the past. Many have serious doubts against them in terms of their rigour and their 'additionality' (ie, whether they would have happened anyway, without the offset funding). And I have a lot of sympathy with those who decry offsets as offering a 'get out of jail free' card to the lazy polluter. A responsible approach is first to reduce your energy use as much as possible; then make sure you source as much as possible from renewable sources; and only then to use offsets to address your 'unavoidable' emissions. But unless you're going to travel everywhere by bicycle or electric vehicle, never step on a plane and never sit in the warm glow of gas central heating, then you're always going to be responsible for at least some carbon emissions. Then you have a choice. You can either shrug your shoulders and do nothing - or you can invest in schemes which, like the best run by Climate Care and responsible providers, have been shown both to reduce emissions AND tackle poverty in developing countries. Schemes that do that can be an invaluable source of money for hard-to-fund small-scale projects which make a huge difference to the quality of life of some of the world's poorest, most vulnerable people. And critics who decry all offsets on principle should pause to consider the effect that their opinions may have on those who would otherwise be willing to contribute to those projects. So by all means be sceptical about offsets as some kind of easy, dream solution to climate change (they're not.) But if you want to take some direct personal responsibility for tackling your unavoidable carbon footprint, and you want to do something simple and practical on behalf of poor communities across the world, you could do a lot worse than explore the best which offsets have to offer. Good to see my enthusiasm for the best kind of offsets rubbed off on Brendan. But just to balance my enthusiasm a bit, I should say that I agree with the ‘offset-sceptics’ that there is a lot that’s wrong with the way many such schemes have been constructed and sold in the past. Many have serious doubts against them in terms of their rigour and their ‘additionality’ (ie, whether they would have happened anyway, without the offset funding). And I have a lot of sympathy with those who decry offsets as offering a ‘get out of jail free’ card to the lazy polluter.
A responsible approach is first to reduce your energy use as much as possible; then make sure you source as much as possible from renewable sources; and only then to use offsets to address your ‘unavoidable’ emissions.
But unless you’re going to travel everywhere by bicycle or electric vehicle, never step on a plane and never sit in the warm glow of gas central heating, then you’re always going to be responsible for at least some carbon emissions. Then you have a choice. You can either shrug your shoulders and do nothing - or you can invest in schemes which, like the best run by Climate Care and responsible providers, have been shown both to reduce emissions AND tackle poverty in developing countries. Schemes that do that can be an invaluable source of money for hard-to-fund small-scale projects which make a huge difference to the quality of life of some of the world’s poorest, most vulnerable people. And critics who decry all offsets on principle should pause to consider the effect that their opinions may have on those who would otherwise be willing to contribute to those projects.
So by all means be sceptical about offsets as some kind of easy, dream solution to climate change (they’re not.) But if you want to take some direct personal responsibility for tackling your unavoidable carbon footprint, and you want to do something simple and practical on behalf of poor communities across the world, you could do a lot worse than explore the best which offsets have to offer.

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