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By Susanna Twidale
LONDON, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Carbon offsetting, already a
multi-billion dollar industry, will get a major boost from the
launch of an international scheme to offset aviation emissions,
called CORSIA, in 2021.
British budget carrier easyJet said on Tuesday it
would go further than the scheme by offsetting all of its
flights.
The global market for offsets of economy flights alone is
set to reach $3.8 billion a year by 2025, analysts at Citi say.
Aviation already accounts for some 2% of global greenhouse gas
emissions and green groups have accused the sector of using
offsets to try to buy out of the problem cheaply.
WHAT IS OFFSETTING AND HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN GOING ON?
Carbon offset schemes involve compensating for emissions of
the gases which cause global warming by paying for emissions
cuts elsewhere. They are measured in terms of carbon dioxide
equivalent and can be awarded carbon credits.
The U.N.’s clean development mechanism (CDM), the first
major offsetting scheme, was set up under the 1997 Kyoto
Protocol, in which 190 countries agreed country-by-country
emission reduction targets.
The scheme was designed to help fund emission reduction
projects in developing countries, while also providing offset
credits to the developed world to help its Kyoto targets.
WHAT KIND OF PROJECTS QUALIFY?
More than 8,100 projects in 111 countries have registered
with the CDM scheme, which has handed out over 2 billion carbon
credits, called Certified Emission Reductions (CERs),
representing 2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide reduction.
Projects registered under the scheme range from capturing
and using methane gasses in pig manure to create electricity to
replacing traditional wood and coal burning cookstoves with
cleaner alternatives such as ethanol.
WHAT ABOUT CARBON SINKS?
Reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation, or
REDD, allows developing nations to earn carbon offsets which
they can then sell, for projects that preserve or rehabilitate
forests.
Separately, new forestry and nature based projects generate
offsets by planting which absorbs carbon dioxide as it grows.
REDD and forestry offsets are verified by organisations such
as Verra, a non-profit group founded in 2005 by environmental
groups and business to set carbon offset standards.
Any carbon offset awarded Gold Standard status must not only
show it has reduced greenhouse gas emissions but also that it
meets sustainable development goals. The Gold Standard was set
up by NGOs such as the World Wildlife Fund.
DO THEY WORK?
Proponents say offsetting can channel much-needed climate
finance to developing countries.
Critics say offsetting emissions reduces incentives for the
drastic emissions cuts needed to slow global warming and do not
always bring the intended benefits; for instance, new trees may
not grow as quickly as promised.
(Reporting By Susanna Twidale; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
