Are carbon offsets worthless?

Not all of them, but multiple independent investigations have found large shares of credits in major registries overstated their impact. Reduction should come first; offsets at most cover an unavoidable remainder.

What should I do instead of offsetting my flight?

Fly less where you can, and cut a persistent recurring emission such as high-beef consumption. A permanent change beats a contested credit.

Planet

Carbon offsets vs dietary change

Offsetting promises to neutralise emissions you are still producing. Investigations into forestry and avoided-deforestation credits have repeatedly found that a large share delivered far less than claimed. Reducing the emission in the first place has no verification problem.

Side by side

Carbon offsets compared with Dietary change
Criterion	Carbon offsets	Dietary change
Verification	Depends on counterfactual baselines that are difficult to verify and easy to inflate.	Direct and immediate; nothing to certify.
Permanence	Forestry credits reverse in a fire, a drought or a change of landowner.	Permanent for as long as the change is maintained.
Cost	Ongoing payment.	Usually reduces household spending.
Co-benefits	Varies enormously by project quality.	Land, water, biodiversity and animal welfare alongside emissions.

Questions people ask

Are carbon offsets worthless?: Not all of them, but multiple independent investigations have found large shares of credits in major registries overstated their impact. Reduction should come first; offsets at most cover an unavoidable remainder.
What should I do instead of offsetting my flight?: Fly less where you can, and cut a persistent recurring emission such as high-beef consumption. A permanent change beats a contested credit.

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