A new analysis titled Are Carbon Offsets Fixable? was recently published in the Annual Review of Environment and Resources. According to its authors (which include Joe Romm):
“A growing number of studies have found that the most widely used offset programs continue to greatly overestimate their probable climate impact often by a factor of five to ten or more. Credit quality has remained a problem since the inception of carbon credits, despite repeated efforts to address the core challenges of additionality, leakage, double counting, environmental injustice, verification, and permanence. Combined, these issues have led many to conclude that overcrediting in carbon offsets is an intractable problem.”
Sections 3 (THE UNDERLYING REASONS FOR POOR QUALITY) and 4 (OFFSET USE, DOUBLE COUNTING, AND PARIS) get to the meat of the issue. Commentary about persistent demand for low quality credits is consistent with conversations I’ve had:
“Despite more than two decades of effort identifying the myriad problems with low-quality credits and suggesting strategies to improve quality, evidence suggests that, from 2020 to 2023, the largest corporate offset buyers ‘continuously sourced these low-quality offsets because of their low cost’. An analysis of the 20 companies retiring the most offsets from the largest registries (VCS, CDM, and Gold Standard) during the period 2020–2023, comprising approximately one-fifth of all retired tons from those registries, found that 87% of the offsets came from higher-risk projects, like REDD+ and large-scale renewable energy that are prone to overcrediting.”
Like with so many other things, you get what you pay for. On the other hand, the most expensive offsets from removals like Direct Air Capture have their own quality concerns in that they may never get delivered due to DAC technology failures.
Our members can learn more about offsets here.
Interested in a full membership with access to the complete range of benefits and resources? Sign up now and take advantage of our no-risk “100-Day Promise” – during the first 100 days as an activated member, you may cancel for any reason and receive a full refund. But it will probably pay for itself before then. Members also save hours of research and reading time each week by using our filtered and curated library of ESG/sustainability resources covering over 100 sustainability subject areas – updated daily with practical and credible information compiled without the use of AI.
Practical Guidance for Companies, Curated for Clarity.
