From a practical standpoint, there have been situations where the carbon reduction projects failed to thrive or caused more harm than good. In an effort to cut costs during a tree-planting project, there was an incident where a fast-growing invasive species was planted, causing damage to native forests and the nearby human communities. In other instances, projects have caused political and social disturbances among native populations. Sometimes the projects themselves work fine, but the land they’ve been established on was intended, by local communities, for something else. There is a story of a small wind farm erected in a field in Africa where wind rarely came through. Again, thorough research on the part of consumers as well as providers will make for more successful projects all around.

Looking To The Future

In June 2008, a new trade organization, the International Carbon Reduction and Offset Alliance (ICROA) was established to create an international code of practice for the sale of carbon offsets. Members of the alliance include carbon offset providers from the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States. Goals include:

• Providers must meet requirements established for the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol, the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS), and the CDM Gold Standard (GS)
• Set emissions targets based on scientific assessments
• Be transparent in communicating emissions reduction strategies, practices, goals, and achievements
• Adhere to strict, set quality requirements for offset projects

For more information, see the Internationial Carbon Reduction and Offset Alliance(ICROA)

Will Buying Carbon Offsets Rid The World Of Greenhouse Gases?

No. Without a doubt, the most important and valuable result of carbon offsetting is to educate and motivate us to change our lifestyles. Becoming “carbon neutral” doesn’t mean simply buying offsets each time we participate in an activity that creates carbon emissions. It means changing the ways we behave and the products we use. Carbon offsetting is certainly a step in the right direction, and it’s a great way to fund important and worthy projects, but it’s useless if we continue to buy gas-guzzling cars and depend on traditional forms of energy.

Carbon offsets are fun and easy. We can accomplish the task in a few minutes of computer time, they make us feel good, and they’re a great topic for conversation. The hard part is changing our behavior, our political priorities, and the way our country functions in order to decrease greenhouse gas emissions around the world.