About
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- Carbon offsets are like credits that you can buy to compensate for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in one place, such as using wind farms to generate renewable energy instead of fossil fuels
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How Does it Work?
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- These offsets are measured and sold in units called metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e).
- If you buy one tonne of carbon offsets, it means there’s one less tonne of carbon dioxide in the air compared to what would have been there otherwise.
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Why is it Helpful?
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- Carbon offsetting is a quick way for businesses to make significant cuts in their emissions.
- It also often brings additional benefits to the project site, like creating jobs, community development programs, and providing training and education.
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What Makes a Carbon Offset Credible?
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- For a carbon offset to be trustworthy, it must meet certain quality criteria. This includes proving that the emission reduction wouldn’t have happened without the financial support (additional), ensuring it won’t be counted twice (retired from the market), and addressing concerns like permanence (it delivers the stated reductions) and leakage (reducing emissions in one area doesn’t lead to an increase elsewhere).
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Example:
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- Let’s say a business, Business A1, can’t immediately reduce 100 tonnes of its CO2 emissions. There’s a project somewhere else that could easily save 100 tonnes, like a community in India switching from carbon-intensive kerosene to solar panels, but they need money for it. By purchasing carbon offsets, Business A1 provides the financial support to get solar panels, reducing 100 tonnes of CO2 emissions globally. This also brings the extra benefit of helping advance technology in a developing market.
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