CARBON OFFSETTING – ENVIRONMENT
News: Explained
| Why the ‘world’s first carbon-neutral airline’ is facing a lawsuit
What's in the news?
● Delta Air Lines in 2020
marketed itself as the “world’s first carbon-neutral airline”,
but recently California-based Mayanna Berrin filed a lawsuit against Delta
arguing that the airlines’ assertions were bogus, misleading and false.
Carbon Offsetting:
● Carbon
offsetting is a practice used by companies to compensate for their CO2 emissions by funding projects that reduce or
remove an equivalent amount of CO2 from the atmosphere.
● The
basic idea behind carbon offsetting is to balance out the emissions produced in
one area by investing in activities that offset or counteract those emissions
in another area.
Types of Carbon Offsetting:
1. Renewable Energy Projects:
● Investing
in renewable energy sources such as wind farms, solar power plants, or
hydroelectric dams to replace or reduce the use of fossil fuels, thereby
avoiding CO2 emissions.
2. Energy Efficiency Initiatives:
● Funding
programs that improve energy efficiency in buildings, transportation, or
industrial processes, leading to reduced energy consumption and lower
emissions.
3. Reforestation and Afforestation:
● Supporting
projects that involve planting new trees (afforestation) or restoring existing
forests (reforestation) to absorb CO2 through photosynthesis and store it in
the biomass.
4. Methane Capture:
● Backing
initiatives that capture and utilize methane emissions from sources like
landfills, agriculture, or coal mines, as methane is a potent greenhouse gas.
5. Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS):
● Investing
in technologies that capture CO2 emissions from industrial processes or power
plants and store them underground to prevent their release into the atmosphere.
Working of Carbon Offsetting:
1. Calculation of Emissions:
● The
organization calculates its greenhouse gas emissions by assessing various
activities such as energy consumption,
transportation, waste generation, or manufacturing processes.
● Emissions
are typically measured in metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e).
2. Purchase of Carbon Credits:
● Once
the emissions are calculated, the entity purchases carbon credits or offsets
from a broker, retailer, or project developer.
● Each carbon credit
represents one metric ton of CO2e that has been reduced or removed from the
atmosphere.
● Carbon
credits, also known as carbon offsets, are permits that allow the owner to emit
a certain amount of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases.
3. Investment in Offset Projects:
● The
funds from purchasing carbon credits are directed towards projects or
activities that have a measurable impact on reducing or removing greenhouse gas
emissions.
4. Verification and Certification:
● To
ensure the credibility of the offset projects, they often undergo verification
and certification processes.
● These
processes are conducted by recognized
standards and third-party organizations that assess the project's adherence
to additionality, permanence, and other quality criteria.
5. Carbon Neutrality and Compliance:
● By
purchasing and retiring carbon credits equivalent to their emissions,
individuals or organizations can claim carbon neutrality.
Challenges:
1. Additionality and Permanence:
● Additionality
refers to ensuring that the offset projects result in emissions reductions or removals that would not have happened
otherwise.
● There
have been cases where offset projects were implemented in areas where emissions
reductions would have occurred naturally or were only temporary, leading to
questions about the integrity of the offsets.
2. Lack of Standards and Regulation:
● The
carbon offset market lacks standardized and widely accepted guidelines, leading
to variations in quality and credibility
of offset projects.
3. Greenwashing:
● There
have been instances of greenwashing, where the offsetting is used as a marketing tool to create a positive image
without meaningful emission reductions genuine efforts to address climate
change.
4. In-genuineness:
● Most
of the world's carbon offsets certifiers do not represent genuineness in carbon
reductions.
5. Lack of alternatives:
● Mostly planting trees
are considered to reduce emissions and there are only few alternatives to
reduce emissions.
6. Cheaper carbon credit:
● The
expense of carbon credit is cheaper than reducing carbon emission so companies
mostly prefer carbon credits.
7. Rebound effect:
● Carbon
offsetting can create a moral hazard, where individuals or organizations feel
that by purchasing offsets, they have offset their emissions and no longer need
to actively reduce their own carbon footprint.
8. Complex and Uncertain:
● Accurately
calculating emissions and determining the appropriate amount of offsets
required to neutralize those emissions can be complex and uncertain.
Carbon
offsetting alone is insufficient to address the urgent need for global emission reductions. It is crucial to
prioritize and implement strategies that directly reduce emissions at their
source.