Voluntary carbon offsetting refers to offsetting one’s own greenhouse gas emissions (mainly CO2) by financing projects carried by a third party that capture CO₂ or avoid CO₂ emissions.

For example, funding another organization to install wind turbines (to avoid CO₂ emissions linked to electricity production) or reforest a plot of farmland (to capture and store carbon).

The emissions avoided or captured by the project are calculated in relation to a reference scenario (which would have existed if the project had not been carried out) and can be expressed in carbon credits (1 tonne of CO2 avoided or captured), the value of which can vary.

Carbon offsetting is considered to be one of the tools available to achieve net zero emissions in the context of global warming mitigation, although for ADEME and most other institutions and organizations working in the climate field, each organization must prioritize the reduction of its own direct and indirect emissions.

Indeed, carbon offsetting should not be used to compensate for a “business as usual” situation, in which a company seeks to absolve itself of its own emissions by delegating to another organization the responsibility of reducing its emissions or capturing CO2.

Assuming, therefore, that offsetting is not the priority mechanism to be implemented, and that it can be used by an organization, in addition to actions to reduce its own emissions, to compensate for non-compressible emissions, the fundamental question still remains : does it really work?

👉 The answer: YES, under certain conditions, which are unfortunately rarely met.

Indeed, for carbon offsetting to work, the project must be :

1. ➕ADDITIONAL.

It would not have been possible without the funding provided by the company financing the offset.

And here, already, we can see that this condition is not met by a large number of offset projects. In fact, many companies are now seeking to sell carbon credits for avoided emissions from projects that would have gone ahead anyway.

For example, a company wishing to install a heat pump realizes that it can be partly financed via carbon credits, and therefore decides to seize this financing opportunity for a project that would have been implemented anyway.

It is therefore necessary to be able to demonstrate the genuinely additional nature of the project and the emissions avoided/carbon captured in order to ensure the project’s additionality.

2. 📆PERENNIAL / LONG TERM IMPACT

The measurement of emissions captured or avoided in relation to the reference scenario is carried out over the long term. However, carbon credits are often purchased by the organization wishing to offset its emissions before or at the start of the project. So what happens if the project is scaled down, shortened in duration, etc.? In this case, the quantities avoided or captured are not guaranteed. It is therefore necessary to ensure the project is carried to its term.

3. 📊MESURABLE/VERIFIABLE

Avoided or captured emissions must be measurable with a reliable methodology, so that they can be verified by an independent third party during a verification audit.

4.🦜UNIQUE

Carbon offsetting has created a market that is difficult to regulate, where emissions avoided/captured by the same project have been able to be sold several times, leading to their double-counting. It is essential to ensure that each carbon credit issued is unique.

At this point, you may be thinking that offsetting is too risky to be true, but fortunately the market has consolidated in recent years, with the emergence of certification labels for offsetting projects.

The most widely recognized and reliable of these are the WWF Voluntary Gold Standard and Verra’s Verified Carbon Standard. National initiatives also exist, such as French Ministry of Ecological Transition’s Label Bas Carbone.

These labels guarantee additionality, sustainability, uniqueness and the ability to measure/verify avoided or captured emissions. Labeled voluntary offset projects are therefore, in principle, reliable enough to be used, always in addition to actions to reduce one’s own emissions, to offset incompressible emissions.