Carbon offsetting refers to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions made in one location to compensate for emissions produced elsewhere.The idea behind carbon offsetting is to balance an individuals or organisations carbon footprint by funding projects that aim to remove an equivalent amount of carbon from the atmosphere.This is most commonly claimed to be achieved by investing in nature-based projects such as reforestation, forest protection or green energy.
Forests, known for their carbon sequestration capacity are marketed as the earth‘s green lungs, and have become a tradable asset.
The investment into such nature conservation projects is oftentimes sealed with a certification, claiming statements such as “carbon neutral“, “green“ or “eco-friendly“. Whilst in theory a great incentive for change, the EU has found in a 2020 study that more than 53% of green claims give vague, misleading or unfounded information, and more than 40 percent have no supporting evidence of their real, measurable positive impact on nature. Meaning that the transactianal value cannot keep up with reality, resulting in greenwashing.
