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.
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Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”