Carbon offsetting – how does it affect the 1.5°C target?

Carbon Offsetting – A Tool

1,5°C-målet enligt Parisavtalet – det är målet vi strävar efter att uppnå. Högre än så vill vi inte att den globala temperaturökningen ska nå då konsekvenserna på människor och natur blir alltför omfattande. Idag, i början av 2022, har vi tyvärr redan en temperaturökning runt 1,2°C. IPCC har nu slagit fast att tiden är för knapp för att enbart minskning av utsläppen utan det behövs samtidigt andra åtgärder som tar upp och binder det vi redan har släppt ut. Fram till 2050 ska världens växthusgasutsläpp vara balanserad mot den mängd som binds in. För företag och organisationer innebär detta att alla verktyg som finns i lådan behöver användas och ett sådant är frivillig klimatkompensation som, om det används ansvarsfullt, kan påskynda åtgärder för att stävja farliga klimatförändringar.

Climate offsetting needs to increase

Voluntary offsetting is currently a very small part of the measures used in the pursuit of the 1.5˚C target, and it would need to be scaled up significantly during this decade. With each passing year, the costs of dealing with various impacts linked to climate change will become higher and higher. Meeting the cost today, for example through carbon offsetting, is cheaper than dealing with climate change in the future when it has worsened.

So what types of carbon offsets are there?

Projekten kan delas in i två grupper – ”Reductions” och ”Removals”. Det har tidigare varit vanligast med projekt inom förnybar energi, såsom vindkraftverk i Kina och Indien. Idag har dock dessa projekt mycket låg eller ingen additionalitet, dvs projekten skulle med största sannolikt ha genomförts även utan pengar från klimatkompensation. Utöver att ett projekts CO2-krediter ska vara mätbara, verifierbara, spårbara och beständiga så är just kravet på additionalitet centralt – pengar från klimatkompensation ska göra verklig nytta. Idag står marknaden för förnybar energi på egna ben och behöver inte finansiering från klimatkompensation för att verka och på så sätt är additionaliteten låg.

Focus on negative emissions – Removals

In the debate on net-zero and climate neutrality with regard to emissions, there is currently a strong focus on negative emissions, i.e. “removals”. This includes natural climate solutions such as tree planting, which, thanks to photosynthesis, absorbs and stores carbon dioxide. ZeroMission working with Plan Vivo tree planting projects since 2006 and currently has several different projects in our portfolio. Technologies are also being developed to permanently store or sequester carbon, for example in bedrock. These are technologies the world is eagerly awaiting, but currently no such technology is certified according to the standards for voluntary carbon offsetting. Furthermore, there are only a handful of pilot projects worldwide, and the prices per ton are still very high compared to, for example, tree planting.

As with most things, you get what you pay for. Old credits with low real climate impact are cheap, while credits with high additionality and positive co-benefits cost more. In between, there are of course projects all along the 'benefit scale'. At ZeroMission , we have high demands on the projects we sell credits from, so if you choose to offset through us, it will have a good effect on the climate. For many years, we have also had a policy that our projects should also have a positive effect based on several of the UN's sustainability goals, such as contributing to jobs locally. In this way, we believe that our customers sleep well at night - the voluntary carbon offset you pay for provides real benefits both for the planet and locally in the projects.

Offset Your Carbon Footprint with ZeroMission: Measure – Reduce – Offset

To conclude, we are happy to repeat our mantra on how we think companies and organizations should act to accelerate the transition of our society: Measure - Reduce - Commit (Climate Compensate). Measure your emissions, reduce in line with the Paris Agreement's 1.5˚C target and at the same time take responsibility today for the emissions you have over time. Preferably by carbon offsetting in projects that bind carbon dioxide - this is the most credible and serious way to act and, as stated above, it is needed to meet the target.

If you want to see the seminar in full, it is available below. ZeroMission's CEO, Claire Wigg, and Johanna Brunge Grant, Climate Strategist, will moderate and answer some listener questions at the end.

Note: For a long time, saying that a company “offsets” its emissions was a popular phrase in corporate sustainability communications. Since 2024, ZeroMission—like other players in our industry—has instead started referring to this practice as carbon offsetting a term we feel better describes what it’s actually about. Read more here.