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The term “carbon offset” can be broadly used to describe any avoidance, reduction or removal of carbon that is used to compensate for emissions that occur elsewhere. Carbon offsets come in many different forms. For example, Juneau’s Alaska Carbon Reduction Fund (ACRF) is using a climate fee for tourists to provide heat pumps for low-income families in the area. They calculate the carbon emissions for a given activity—say, a whale watching tour—and add it to the total cost of the activity. This approach has allowed the ACRF to purchase46 heat pumps to date (What On Earth [Audio podcast], 2024).
Carbon emissions are hard to calculate precisely, and carbon offset projects can be notorious for inaccurate calculations. Certain loopholes can make a project look better than it really is. As a consumer, you can check to make sure that a business claiming to be carbon neutral is investing in accredited programs by visiting the Government of Canada’s Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Offset Credit System, which has a public registry for projects that meet their standards for carbon reduction and removal. There is also a comprehensive purchasing guide put forward by the David Suzuki Foundation that contains a list of companies with strong to weak offset performance, although it has not been revised since 2009. The guide itself still has an excellent framework for reviewing a potential vendor of carbon offsets. To learn more about high-quality offsets, you can visit the Carbon Offset Guide website.
In the end, carbon offsets are best used for non-negotiable emissions, or those emissions that would be too costly for an individual or company to sustain. An effort should be made to reduce emissions in all other ways before deferring to carbon offsets. You can use a Carbon Calculator at home to calculate your own emissions and see the areas where you may need to improve. The Muskoka Community Energy and Emissions Reduction Program (CEERP)also outlines the areas of action needed locally for emission reductions. You might consider donating to a conservancy or environmental non-profit to compensate for your own non-negotiable emissions.
References:
David Suzuki Foundation. (2009). Purchasing Carbon Offsets: A Guide for Canadian Consumers, Businesses and Organizations. https://davidsuzuki.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/purchasing-carbon-offsets-guide-for-canadians-2023.pdf
The District Municipality of Muskoka. (2024, Feb 28). Muskoka Community Energy and Emissions Reduction Plan. https://www.muskoka.on.ca/en/Environment/Documents-and-Forms/Muskoka-Community-Energy-and-Emissions-Reduction-Plan-(March-2024).pdf
Frank, S. (2024). Does carbon offsetting do more harm than good? Carbon Market Watch. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2023/07/06/does-carbon-offsetting-do-more-harm-than-good/
Georgian Bay Biosphere. (2024). Carbon Calculator. https://georgianbaybiosphere.com/carbon-calculator/
Government of Canada. (May 9, 2024). Canada's Greenhous Gas Offset Credit System. https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/climate-change/pricing-pollution-how-it-will-work/output-based-pricing-system/federal-greenhouse-gas-offset-system.html
The Greenhouse Gas Management Institute and the Stockholm Environment Institute. (N.D.) Carbon Offset Guide. https://www.offsetguide.org/
Lutkevich, B. (2024). Carbon offset. TechTarget. https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/carbon-offset
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