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Systemic Flaws Plague Carbon Offset Schemes, Fail to Cut Emissions
6 Oct
Summary
- Review finds most carbon offset schemes are poor quality and ineffective
- Intractable problems have plagued the industry for over 20 years
- Experts call for phasing out offsets, shifting focus to carbon removal
According to a review paper published in Annual Reviews, the failure of carbon offsets to cut planet-heating pollution is not due to a few bad apples, but rather deep-seated systemic problems that incremental change will not solve. The research, which analyzed over two decades of evidence, found "intractable" issues that have made carbon credits in most major programmes poor quality.
While the industry and diplomats have made efforts to improve the system, the much-awaited rules agreed at a UN climate summit last year "did not substantially address the quality problem". Researchers now say it is time to stop expecting carbon offsetting to work at scale, as almost everything up until this point has failed.
The review identified several key issues, including the issuance of additional credits for projects that were already in the pipeline, impermanent projects like tree planting that can later be destroyed, and double-counting of emissions reductions. A meta-analysis published last year found that less than 16% of the carbon credits investigated showed real reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
Experts are now calling for an urgent phasing out of offsets that do not actively remove carbon from the atmosphere, and a shift in focus towards high-quality carbon dioxide removal and storage. They also recommend exploring alternative contribution-based schemes that do not allow donors to claim emissions reductions.
