By
Grace Smoot

Carbon avoidance, preventing the release of future carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, is one of the main methods used to reduce global CO₂ emissions. In the scope of carbon offsets, carbon avoidance could play a crucial role in reducing atmospheric CO₂ levels. So, we had to ask: What are carbon avoidance offsets really, and could they help us mitigate climate change?

Carbon avoidance offsets are a specific type of carbon offset that focuses on preventing carbon emissions from entering our atmosphere via Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), waste management, energy efficiency, or agricultural offset projects.

Keep reading to find out all about what carbon avoidance offsets are, how they work, what their project life-cycle is, how effective they are, their pros and cons, and how they can help mitigate climate change.

The Big Picture of Carbon Avoidance Offsets

Carbon offsets play an important role in mitigating the effects of global climate change by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions beyond what we each can achieve through individual actions. Carbon avoidance offsets are a specific type of carbon offset that focuses on preventing carbon emissions from entering our atmosphere.

How are carbon offsets defined	Reductions in GHG emissions that are used to compensate for emissions occurring elsewhere.
What are carbon avoidance offsets	Carbon avoidance offsets are a specific type of carbon offset that focuses on preventing carbon emissions from entering our atmosphere.
How do carbon avoidance projects offset CO2 emissions	Purchasing carbon avoidance offsets funds carbon emission reduction projects that prevent CO2 from entering the atmosphere in the future. It is a proactive, rather than a reactive, way of dealing with carbon emissions.
When do carbon avoidance projects offset CO2 emissions	REDD+, waste management, energy efficiency, and some agricultural projects avoid CO2 emissions immediately.
How effective and efficient are carbon avoidance offsets	Effectiveness: Depending on the type of avoidance, carbon avoidance offsets can help reduce deforestation and strengthen our natural carbon sinks, reduce methane emissions and other forms of pollution, bolster energy security, and help transition away from fossil fuels. However, they can also lack additionality and do not reduce your own carbon emissions. Efficiency: Depending on the type of avoidance, carbon avoidance offsets can be proactive and relatively cost-effective; however, they can also be difficult to monitor and verify and they are not yet scaled to compensate for our global emissions.
How could you offset your carbon footprint with carbon avoidance offsets	Carbon avoidance offsets proactively deal with CO2 emissions. Rather than removing emissions once they have already been emitted, carbon avoidance focuses on approaches that prevent CO2 from being released in the first place.

What Are Carbon Avoidance Offsets

Carbon offsets are avoidances in GHG emissions that are used to compensate for emissions occurring elsewhere. They are measured in tons of CO₂ equivalents and are bought and sold through international brokers, online retailers, and trading platforms.

Carbon avoidance offsets are a specific type of carbon offset that focuses on preventing carbon emissions from entering our atmosphere. They include Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), waste management, energy efficiency, and some agricultural offsets. 

How Are Carbon Offsets Defined

Carbon offsets play a crucial role in reducing our carbon footprint, the amount of CO₂ emissions associated with an individual or an entity. 

“Carbon footprint: the amount of greenhouse gasses and specifically carbon dioxide emitted by something (such as a person’s activities or a product’s manufacture and transport) during a given period”

Merriam Webster

Basically, a carbon footprint is the amount of carbon emitted by an activity or an organization. This includes GHG emissions from fuel that we burn directly (e.g., heating a home, driving a car) and GHG emissions from manufacturing the products that we use (e.g., power plants, factories, and landfills). 

One way to reduce our carbon footprint is via the use of carbon offsets. These are avoidances in GHG emissions that are measured in tons of CO₂ equivalents and are bought and sold through international brokers, online retailers, and trading platforms. 

“Carbon offset: a way for a company or person to reduce the level of carbon dioxide for which they are responsible by paying money to a company that works to reduce the total amount produced in the world, for example by planting trees”

Oxford Dictionary

When you hear the words “carbon offset”, think about the term “compensation”. Essentially, carbon offsets are avoidances in GHG emissions that are used to compensate for emissions occurring elsewhere. Carbon offsets can range anywhere from a couple of hundred tons of CO₂ per program per year to thousands of tons of CO₂ per program per year. 

How Are Carbon Avoidance Offsets Defined

Carbon avoidance is the prevention of future carbon emissions via particular carbon offsets or via direct carbon reduction measures. It is one form of carbon reduction, 

“Avoidance: not doing something; preventing something from existing or happening”

Oxford Dictionary

Carbon offsets that are commonly classified as carbon avoidance measures include:

• Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+)
• Waste Management 
• Energy efficiency
• Agriculture

How Do Carbon Avoidance Offsets Work

Purchasing carbon avoidance offsets funds carbon emission reduction projects that prevent CO₂ from entering the atmosphere. It is a proactive, rather than a reactive, way of dealing with carbon emissions. 

How and When Do Carbon Avoidance Offsets Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

Carbon avoidance refers to preventing carbon from entering our atmosphere via the protection of existing reservoirs, mitigating waste, and switching to energy-efficient mechanisms. It is one way to prevent the adverse effects of CO₂ emissions that occur once they enter our atmosphere.

How Do Carbon Avoidance Offsets Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

Purchasing carbon avoidance offsets funds carbon emission reduction projects that prevent CO₂ from entering the atmosphere in the future. 

For example, carbon avoidance projects such as REDD+ can help protect existing carbon sinks (e.g., via avoided deforestation). And projects such as landfill gas capture and conversion to renewable energy can prevent methane (CH₄) emissions from entering our atmosphere. These types of projects can buy us time to implement permanent carbon reduction measures such as direct carbon capture. 

When Do Carbon Avoidance Offsets Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

The timing of carbon reduction varies depending on the type of carbon sequestration:

• REDD+ projects reduce carbon emissions immediately because you are protecting existing vegetation rather than creating new vegetation. 

• Waste management carbon offsets either avoid emissions immediately by either capturing emissions from waste and turning it into renewable energy or reducing the total amount of waste. 

• Energy-efficient mechanisms begin reducing CO₂ emissions immediately upon installation or implementation because they use less energy to perform tasks.

• In terms of agriculture, farm methane power and avoided grassland conversion immediately avoid CO₂ emissions.

What Could Prevent Carbon Avoidance Offsets From Being Realized

Carbon avoidance offsets can lack additionality, standardization, and monitoring, and are not yet scaled to compensate for our global waste emissions. 

To be beneficial, REDD+, waste management, and energy-efficiency carbon offsets must be additional. This means the carbon emissions reductions would not have occurred without any outside interventions. But the additionality of REDD+ projects cannot be measured exactly, and many waste management and energy-efficiency projects receiving revenue now would have been built regardless. 

The decentralized nature and many different types of energy-efficiency and agricultural carbon avoidance offsets can make standardization and monitoring difficult. There are different standards for different types of energy-efficiency practices. Appliances, lighting, buildings, cooking, and fuels are held to different standards, making it difficult to standardize energy efficiency as one singular entity. And in order to exact change on a global scale, we would have to incorporate agricultural offset practices on a massive scale and for hundreds of years into the future. This would be difficult to do both socially and economically.

Waste management and agricultural carbon avoidance offsets are not yet scaled to compensate for the billions of tons of GHG we emit annually. Because waste management and agricultural offsets are only a small subsection of the larger carbon offset market, they are also inadequate in terms of offsetting our global emissions. Experts predict the world’s population will increase by 2 billion people in the next 30 years, which means the rate of waste generation and subsequent GHG emissions from waste will continue to increase. There will also be more mouths to feed; therefore, agricultural production and subsequent GHG emissions from agriculture will increase. 

What Is the Project Life-Cycle of Carbon Avoidance Offsets

To fully understand carbon sequestration offsets, we must assess each stage of its life cycle. This life-cycle assessment (LCA) is a method to evaluate the environmental impacts of products and materials. Over the years, companies have strategically used LCA to research and create more sustainable products. So, we had a look at the LCA for carbon sequestration offsets! 

Building of Carbon Avoidance Offsets

The building of carbon avoidance offsets varies depending on the type of carbon avoidance project:

• REDD+: Evaluating the state of the existing forests in order to calculate their baseline carbon emissions. 

• Waste management: Building the components in a biogas plant requires machinery that emits CO₂. Recycling, food rescue, and composting projects also require facilities, but they require less sophisticated machinery. 

• Energy efficiency: Many components are required to construct energy-efficiency mechanisms, and building these components requires machinery that emits CO₂. 

• Agriculture: The building of agricultural carbon offsets includes building biomass power plants and CH₄ capture mechanisms, and identifying farms in need of reforestation and grasslands in need of protection. 

Operating and Maintaining of Carbon Avoidance Offsets

Each carbon avoidance type has various operation and maintenance needs:

• REDD+: Protecting forests during the REDD+ project’s lifetime via defining the causes of deforestation, the baseline emissions, and the reference emissions levels for a particular area. Then REDD+ establishes both social and environmental safeguards to combat deforestation.

• Waste management: There are very few emissions or waste products associated with operating and maintaining waste management projects, making the carbon footprint of this phase low. 

• Energy efficiency: There are very few CO₂ emissions or waste products associated with operating and maintaining energy-efficiency projects, making the carbon footprint of this phase low. CO₂ emissions at this stage are associated with the operation of the technology (e.g., water filters, cookstoves, and cogeneration facilities) at the project sites.

• Agriculture: The operating and maintenance of agricultural carbon offsets includes the combustion of biomass, capture of CH₄, absorption of CO₂ via agroforestry, and protection of grassland biomes.

End-of-Life of Carbon Avoidance Offsets

The end-of-life of carbon avoidance offsets also depends on the type of sequestration:

• REDD+: Forests not protected – or not anymore protected – by REDD+ projects can be subject to deforestation activities. 

• Waste management: Landfills themselves have an average life expectancy of anywhere from 30-50 years, biogas power plants have a historical life expectancy of 20-30 years, and recycling, food rescue, and composting projects have long life expectancies.

• Energy efficiency: The life expectancy of energy-efficiency solutions varies depending on the specific solution. Therefore, water filtration systems, cookstoves, and waste cogeneration facilities would all have different lifespans. If properly maintained, these technologies are built to last.

• Agriculture: The end-of-life of agricultural carbon offset projects would include the end-of-life of pyrolysis technology, biomass power plants, or anything that puts agroforestry or grasslands at risk of being destroyed, which hopefully would never occur.

The Rwandan Clean Cookstoves Project: An Example Project of Carbon Avoidance Offsets

DelAgua launched the Rwandan clean cookstoves project in partnership with the Government of Rwanda in 2013 to transform the lives and environment of rural African communities. To date, the project has provided over 6 million Rwandans with 1.3 million stoves, free of charge. 

The clean cookstoves use small twigs and branches, which people can collect without cutting down trees, thereby reducing deforestation and using 71% less wood than a traditional fire. It is one of the largest programs of its kind which has helped pull families from poverty and avoid CO₂ emissions.

Del Agua’s carbon offset projects are certified by the Verified Carbon Standard. They are also aligned with the Paris Agreement and adhere to multiple UN Sustainable Development Goals. You can visit DelAgua’s website and contact a representative to support this carbon avoidance offset project.

How Effective and Efficient Are Carbon Avoidance Offsets

In terms of effectiveness, carbon avoidance offsets can help reduce deforestation and strengthen our natural carbon sinks, reduce methane emissions and other forms of pollution, bolster energy security, and help transition away from fossil fuels. However, they can lack additionality and they do not reduce your own carbon emissions, which can lead to greenwashing.

In terms of efficiency, carbon avoidance offsets are proactive and relatively cost-effective; however, they can also be difficult to monitor and verify and they are not yet scaled to compensate for our global emissions.

Carbon avoidance offsets are effective at mitigating climate change because:

• Carbon avoidance offsets involving REDD+, energy efficiency, and agriculture protect forest and grassland ecosystems and their ability to act as carbon sinks. 
• Carbon avoidance offsets involving waste management, energy efficiency, and agriculture reduce methane (CH₄) emissions and combat land, air, and water pollution.
• Carbon avoidance offsets involving waste management and energy efficiency can help reduce reliance on biomass and fossil fuels, leading to increased energy security and energy independence. 

However, carbon avoidance offsets involving REDD+, waste management, and energy efficiency can also lack additionality due to uncertainty in determining baselines and increasing demand for projects.

Carbon avoidance offsets are efficient at reducing CO₂ emissions because:

• Carbon avoidance offsets cut emissions at their source, making them a proactive way of dealing with emissions.
• Carbon avoidance offsets involving REDD+, waste management, energy efficiency, and agriculture are some of the most cost-effective methods of carbon emission reduction. 

However, carbon avoidance offsets can also lack efficiency because:

• The decentralized nature and many different types of energy-efficiency and agricultural carbon avoidance offsets can make standardization and monitoring difficult. 
• Waste management and agricultural carbon avoidance offsets are not yet scaled to compensate for the billions of tons of greenhouse gasses (GHGs) we emit annually. 

In addition, carbon avoidance offsets do not reduce your own carbon emissions, which can lead to greenwashing. This occurs when emissions are only offset and not reduced from the source, and the consumer is deceived into thinking they are offsetting their emissions but in reality, they are not. This is why we should first reduce our emissions before relying on offsets.

What Are The 6 Pros and 4 Cons of Carbon Avoidance Offsets

Carbon avoidance offsets are a proactive, relatively cost-effective way of dealing with CO₂ emissions which can protect existing carbon sinks, bolster energy security, help transition away from fossil fuels, and reduce various forms of pollution. Carbon avoidance offsets also allow us to reduce carbon emissions in ways we wouldn’t be able to accomplish individually.

Carbon avoidance offsets can lack additionality, standardization, and monitoring, and are not yet scaled to compensate for our global waste emissions. They also do not reduce your own carbon emissions, which can lead to greenwashing.

What Are the 6 Pros of Carbon Avoidance Offsets

Carbon avoidance offsets have various pros that make them effective at proactively reducing carbon emissions.

Pros of Carbon Avoidance Offsets	Quick Facts
#1: Carbon avoidance offsets are proactive	Carbon avoidance is a proactive, rather than reactive, way of dealing with emissions. By eliminating emissions at the source, we cut down on fossil fuel (e.g., coal, oil, and natural gas) usage.
#2: Carbon avoidance offsets can protect existing carbon sinks	Carbon avoidance offsets involving REDD+, energy efficiency, and agriculture protect forest and grassland ecosystems and their ability to act as carbon sinks.
#3: Carbon avoidance offsets can be relatively cost-effective	REDD+, waste management, energy efficiency, and agricultural carbon offsets are some of the most cost-effective methods of carbon emission reduction.
#4: Carbon avoidance offsets can bolster energy security and help transition away from fossil fuels	Waste management and energy-efficiency projects reduce overall energy demand, which in turn reduces reliance on imports of biomass fuels or fossil fuels. Being able to produce your own energy without relying on other entities increases energy security, and increased energy security fosters energy independence.
#5: Carbon avoidance offsets can reduce methane emissions and other forms of pollution	Waste management and farm power agricultural offsets can reduce CH4 emissions via CH4 capture, combustion, or conversion to energy projects. They can also target land, air, or water pollution, depending on the project.
#6: Carbon avoidance offsets allow us to reduce carbon emissions in ways we wouldn’t be able to accomplish individually	Carbon avoidance offsets allow us to reduce emissions from activities where sustainable alternatives are not yet widely available.

What Are the 4 Cons of Carbon Avoidance Offsets

Understanding the drawbacks of carbon avoidance offsets is important when implementing this strategy on a large scale in order to mitigate climate change.

4 Cons of Carbon Avoidance Offsets	Quick Facts
#1: Carbon avoidance offsets can lack additionality	Carbon avoidance offsets involving REDD+, waste management, and energy efficiency can lack additionality due to uncertainty in determining baselines and increasing demand for projects
#2: Carbon avoidance offsets can lack standardization and monitoring	The decentralized nature and many different types of energy-efficiency and agricultural carbon avoidance offsets can make standardization and monitoring difficult.
#3: Carbon avoidance offsets are not yet scaled to compensate for our global emissions	Because waste management and agricultural offsets are only a small subsection of the larger carbon offset market, they are inadequate in terms of offsetting our global emissions.
#4: Carbon avoidance offsets do not reduce your own carbon emissions, which can lead to greenwashing	If emissions are only offset and not reduced from the source, this could lead to greenwashing, when the consumer is deceived into thinking they are offsetting their emissions but in reality, they are not.

How Could You Offset Your Own Carbon Footprint With Carbon Avoidance Offsets

The market for carbon offsets was small in the year 2000, but by 2010 it had already grown to represent nearly $10 billion worldwide. The voluntary carbon offset market (VCM) is where everyday consumers can purchase carbon offsets to offset their carbon emissions. 

The Ecosystem Marketplace predicts the VCM can grow to $50B by the year 2050. And because carbon avoidance is a proactive, cost-effective way of dealing with carbon emissions, those offsets are predicted to make up a larger share of the market.

Carbon Avoidance Offset Company	Quick Facts
Terrapass	About: Carbon offset purchases support third-party certified REDD+, waste management, and agricultural projects. Costs: $16.51-$17.63 per 1,000kg of CO2
Native Energy	About: Carbon offset purchases support third-party certified REDD+, waste management, and agricultural projects. Costs: $18 per 1,000 kg of CO2
Carbonfund	About: Carbon offset purchases support third-party certified REDD+, waste management, and energy-efficiency projects. Costs: $16.25-$17.16 per 1,000kg of CO2 for individuals, $390-$1,560 per year for small businesses, determined after initial contact for large businesses
Ecologi	About: Carbon offset purchases support third-party certified REDD+, waste management, and energy-efficiency projects. Costs: $6.04 per 1,000 kg of CO2 offset
REDD.plus	About: Carbon offset purchases support UNFCCC-verified REDD+ projects around the globe. REDD.plus is a central registry and exchange for REDD+ Result Units, a type of carbon credit.  Costs: $16 per ton of CO2
CoreZero	About: Purchases support waste management projects including food rescue, upcycling, waste-to-energy, and composting. Costs: Costs are determined after initial contact
DelAgua	About: Purchases support the Rwandan clean cookstoves energy-efficiency carbon offset project. Costs: Costs are determined after initial contact
Wildlife Works	About: Carbon offset purchases support third-party certified carbon offset projects including The Kasigau Corridor, Mai Ndombe, and Southern Cardamom REDD+ projects in Kenya, Cambodia, and Colombia respectively. Costs: $20 per ton of CO2
GreenTech	About: They take plastic (e.g., plastic bottles) and sort, grind, wash, and process it into sustainable recycled flakes to make products (e.g., PET flakes, PET straps, and r-PET granules). Costs: $40 per 1,000kg of CO2
South Pole	About: Carbon offset purchases support third-party certified waste management and energy-efficiency projects. Costs: Costs are determined after initial contact

How Can Carbon Avoidance Offsets Help Mitigate Climate Change

Climate change is a severe and long-term consequence of fossil fuel combustion. Carbon avoidance offsets can help mitigate climate change because they cut emissions at their source, which is a proactive way of dealing with carbon emissions. If left untreated, these emissions can remain in our atmosphere for tens of thousands of years and exacerbate the negative effects of climate change.

How is Climate Change Defined

Climate change is arguably the most severe, long-term global impact of fossil fuel combustion. Every year, approximately 33 billion tons (bt) of CO₂ are emitted from burning fossil fuels. The carbon found in fossil fuels reacts with oxygen in the air to produce CO₂. 

“Climate change: changes in the earth’s weather, including changes in temperature, wind patterns and rainfall, especially the increase in the temperature of the earth’s atmosphere that is caused by the increase of particular gasses, especially carbon dioxide.”

Oxford Dictionary

Atmospheric CO₂ fuels climate change, which results in global warming. When CO₂ and other air pollutants absorb sunlight and solar radiation in the atmosphere, it traps the heat and acts as an insulator for the planet. Since the Industrial Revolution, Earth’s temperature has risen a little more than 1 degree Celsius (C), or 2 degrees Fahrenheit (F). Between 1880-1980 the global temperature rose by 0.07C every 10 years. This rate has more than doubled since 1981, with a current global annual temperature rise of 0.18C, or 0.32F, for every 10 years. 

As outlined in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, we must cut current GHG emissions by 50% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. 

How Do Carbon Offsets Generally Help Mitigate Climate Change

Levels of carbon in our atmosphere that cause climate change have increased as a result of human emissions since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in 1750. The global average concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere today registers at over 400 parts per million. Carbon offsets can help prevent these levels from increasing even more.

When you hear the words “carbon offset”, think about the term “compensation”. Essentially, carbon offsets are reductions in GHG emissions that are used to compensate for emissions occurring elsewhere. 

Carbon offsets that meet key criteria and verified project standards, are additional and permanent, and are part of projects that are carried out until the end of their lifespan have the best chance of reducing carbon emissions and therefore reducing climate change. 

When we offset CO₂ we also slow the rate of global temperature rise, which in turn minimizes the effects of climate change. 

How Do Carbon Avoidance Offsets Specifically Help Mitigate Climate Change

Carbon avoidance offsets proactively deal with CO₂ emissions. Rather than removing emissions once they have already been emitted, carbon avoidance focuses on approaches that prevent CO₂ from being released in the first place.

As outlined in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, we must cut current greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 50% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. Carbon avoidance is important to meet these targets because the more we avoid carbon, the less we emit into our atmosphere. 

What Are Better Alternatives to Carbon Avoidance Offsets

If used correctly, carbon avoidance offsets can provide environmental, economic, and social benefits beyond reducing carbon emissions. They have the potential to instigate meaningful environmental change and begin to reverse some of the effects of climate change. 

However, we can’t let this method be a guilt-free way to reduce carbon emissions. Avoidance carbon offsets must be used in conjunction with direct carbon reduction measures, because these measures directly reduce your carbon footprint.

These reduction measures don’t have to involve drastic changes either. Actions that may seem small can have a big impact because those small changes add up! You can reduce your carbon footprint in three main areas of your life: household, travel, and lifestyle. 

Reduce your household carbon footprint:

• Wash with cold water: Washing clothes in cold water could reduce carbon emissions by up to 11 million tons. Approximately 90% of the energy is used to heat the water, so switching to cold saves also saves energy.

• Replace incandescent bulbs with fluorescent bulbs: Fluorescent bulbs use 75% less energy than incandescent ones, saving energy and thus reducing electricity demand and GHG emissions.

Reduce your travel carbon footprint:

• Fly less: Aviation accounts for around 1.9% of global carbon emissions and 2.5% of CO₂. Air crafts run on jet gasoline, which is converted to CO₂ when burned.

• Walk or bike when possible: The most efficient ways of traveling are walking, bicycling, or taking the train. Using a bike instead of a car can reduce carbon emissions by 75%. These forms of transportation also provide lower levels of air pollution.

Reduce your lifestyle carbon footprint:

• Switch to renewable energy sources: The six most common types of renewable energy are solar, wind, hydro, tidal, geothermal, and biomass energy. They are a substitute for fossil fuels that can reduce the effects of global warming by limiting global carbon emissions and other pollutants.

• Recycle: Recycling uses less energy and deposits less waste in landfills. Less manufacturing and transportation energy costs means fewer carbon emissions generated. Less waste in landfills means less CH₄ is generated.

• Switch from single-use to sustainable products: Reusing products avoids resource extraction, reduces energy use, reduces waste generation, and can prevent littering.

• Eat less meat and dairy: Meat and dairy account for 14.5% of global GHG emissions, with beef and lamb being the most carbon-intensive. Globally, we consume much more meat than is considered sustainable, and switching to a vegan or vegetarian diet could reduce emissions. 

• Take shorter showers: Approximately 1.2 trillion gallons of water are used each year in the United States just for showering purposes, and showering takes up about 17% of residential water usage. The amount of water consumed and the energy cost of that consumption are directly related. The less water we use the less energy we use. And the less energy we use, the less of a negative impact we have on the environment.

Although avoidance offsets are proactive, they are still an indirect way of reducing emissions, meaning they alone will not be enough to reduce global carbon emissions significantly. Direct measures of emission reductions, such as reducing individual energy use and consumption, are better alternatives to avoidance offsets. 

Final Thoughts

Carbon avoidance offsets are a specific type of carbon offset that focuses on preventing carbon emissions from entering our atmosphere. Purchasing carbon avoidance offsets funds carbon emission reduction projects (e.g., REDD+, waste management, energy efficiency, agriculture) that prevent CO₂ from entering the atmosphere in the future. Each type of avoidance has its pros and cons involving permanence, rapidity and longevity of emission reduction, and costs.

Although carbon avoidance offsets can instigate meaningful change, they should not be seen as the only solution to climate change. They are effective at reducing CO₂ in the short term, but in the long term, they fail to reduce CO₂ enough. Carbon avoidance offsets also do not reduce your own carbon emissions, which can lead to greenwashing.

When used in conjunction with direct CO₂ reduction measures, carbon offsetting can be much more effective. We should reduce our own carbon footprint as much as possible first, and only then choose the most effective carbon avoidance offsets.

Stay impactful,

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