Report claims UK's carbon offsetting industry 'failing'
June 8, 2009
A report from Friends of the Earth (FoE) is claiming that the growing carbon offsetting industry, of which Britain is reputed to be at the hub, is failing to have an impact on global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. FoE is urging governments to drop plans for further expansion of these offsetting schemes.
In terms of its application internationally, offsetting gives developed countries the option of investing in projects aimed at reducing GHG emissions in poor countries, instead of having to make more expensive emissions reductions at home.
Carbon offsetting has been touted as a key tool in tackling climate change. It has also been claimed that offsetting facilitates the provision of financial and technological assistance to developing countries. However, according to FoE, it is not working out this way in practice. Instead, offsetting has merely acted as a means to assist rich nations in finding ingenious ways to avoid reducing their own carbon emissions.
In its report, FoE states that offsetting schemes are bringing about much lower cuts in GHG emissions than are needed to avoid the disastrous effects of climate change.
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