How to choose the right carbon offset

Duncan Oswald CEnv FIEMA, head of climate science at Sage Earth, delves into the complex world of carbon offsets and gives you a guide to what to look out for.

We look at:

Sage Net Zero engagement and SBTi offsAttitude recommendations

Sage has committed to achieving net zero by 2040 as part of the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi).

With SBTi, decar­bonization through offsets is not possible, but it accepts that some emissions may never be elimi­nated, so up to 10% of your base emissions can be offset once you have elimi­nated the other 90%.

The offsets you can use for this purpose must meet certain criteria:

“Companies must remove carbon from the atmos­phere and store it perma­nently to offset the impact of any unabated emissions that remain once companies have met their long-term, science-based target and for years to come.”

The key part of this requirement is that offset measures must reduce emissions from the atmos­phere (and not serve to reduce additional emissions) and that their effect must be permanent.

Criteria for effective offsets

For compen­sation to be effective, a few additional criteria must be met. Along with the SBTi require­ments, these are summa­rized below:

Additionality

Addition­ality means that the offsetting activity would not have taken place without the incentive created by the sale of carbon credits.

An example of this not being the case are systems where credits were sold to protect forests from defor­estation, where defor­estation would have been illegal anyway because the forest was in a national park.

durability

‍Perma­nence is referred to in the GHG Protocol with reference to “reversibility”. : Residual emissions? , It’s important to carefully examine what you’re buying, make compar­isons, and choose options that best suit your overall mission.

Editor’s Note: This article was updated in July 2024.