Glossary: Carbon Brief’s guide to the terminology of carbon offsets
The world’s top polluters are increasingly relying on “carbon offsets” to make claims about slashing their climate impact and reaching net-zero.
Put simply, carbon-offsetting involves an entity that emits greenhouse gases into the atmosphere paying for another entity to pollute less.
For example, an airline in a developed country that wants to claim it is reducing its emissions can pay for a patch of rainforest to be protected in the Amazon. This – in theory – “cancels out” some of the airline’s pollution.
As Carbon Brief has detailed in a newly released explainer, the world of carbon offsets is complex and murky – with a single carbon-offset project often involving a host of different players and stakeholders in countries scattered across the world.
The complex nature of carbon offsets has given rise to an abundance of technical and often tricky-to-understand terms, phrases and acronyms.