What is Carbon Offsetting?
We all know the planet’s feeling the pressure — too much carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are building up in the atmosphere, driving global warming and its effects.
Cutting down on emissions is essential — and that includes action from governments, industries, and each of us as individuals. But reducing emissions alone won’t be enough.
For decades, we've been putting more carbon into the air than the planet can handle. Now, it's just as important to clean up what's already there.
That’s where carbon removal comes in. Through Zero Carbon Projects, you can help support high-quality projects that actively remove carbon from the atmosphere — tackling both today’s emissions and the legacy of the past.
What is carbon offsetting?
Carbon offsetting is a way for individuals to “balance out” their carbon footprint by contributing to projects that actively remove carbon from the atmosphere.
Traditionally – and this is why offsets have a bad name - this would have been through supporting (carbon avoidance) projects that reduce the same amount of CO2, elsewhere in the world, for example, through tree-planting schemes or funding clean energy in developing countries.
In many such cases, the reductions in carbon emissions would have happened anyway – they are not additional – and often there is a risk with such schemes that because they don’t mature quickly enough, the carbon reductions or removals don’t happen fast enough.
Did you know it takes one tree 200 years to reach maturity – the point at which it begins to absorb carbon? And that doesn’t take into account the risk of disease or wildfire.
That’s why, for Zero Carbon Projects, we are focusing on carbon removal rather than more traditional avoidance schemes.
How does carbon offsetting work?
The first step in offsetting carbon is not to offset carbon, it’s to measure your footprint or your personal environmental impact. You can do that through Zero with our GreenScore® feature.
The next step is to make a concerted effort to reduce your impact and lower your carbon footprint. Again, Zero helps you to do this by giving you a snapshot of the environmental impact of your debit card purchases – you can understand the biggest drivers of your emissions output and choose to spend less or differently to reduce this.
Once you’ve measured and reduced what you can, that’s when offsetting comes in.
When you purchase a carbon offset, you're essentially buying a certificate (credit) that represents the reduction or removal of one tonne of CO₂ or its equivalent in other greenhouse gases. These credits are generated through global projects verified via international standards like Gold Standard or Verra, which certify the quality and integrity of the project.
There are a growing number of platforms that allow individuals the opportunity to balance or compensate for their emissions output / footprint by purchasing offset credits, including our partner, Lune – read more on Lune.
Reminder of the steps:
- Calculate your footprint through our GreenScore® - for a flight, your energy use, or even your entire spending.
- Work out your reduction target and what you plan to do differently to reduce your footprint, then offset those unavoidable emissions you simply can’t reduce through lifestyle changes (for example flying long haul to see family overseas).
- Check out our Zero Carbon Projects portfolio to learn more about the carefully curated carbon removal projects your contributions will support.
- Make your payment via the Zero and see the improvements to your GreenScore®
Why is carbon removal offsetting good?
- It empowers action: You can take responsibility for unavoidable emissions.
- It supports projects that do good: Many offset projects offer ‘co-benefits’ - they improve local livelihoods, restore ecosystems and promote biodiversity.
- It can provide immediate impact: Offering a way to mitigate emissions while longer-term solutions are being developed.
- It raises awareness: Offsetting should go hand in hand with broader lifestyle changes — like flying less or reducing the amount of meat you eat.
However, it's crucial that these projects are verified and additional, meaning they wouldn't have occurred without the offset investment.
Is Carbon offsetting the answer to get to Net Zero?
No – it’s only one part of the puzzle.
Think of offsetting as a support tool — helpful, but not a substitute for cutting emissions at the source: it can help, but it doesn’t fix the root problem. To reach net zero, the UK needs to drastically cut emissions — not just pay to tidy them up.
The UK Climate Change Committee warns that too many companies and individuals are relying on offsetting instead of making real reductions. They warn that over-reliance on offsets can delay necessary emission cuts and may not lead to genuine environmental benefits if not properly managed.
For consumers, that means:
- Offsetting should be a last step, not a first.
- Reducing your own emissions (e.g., eating less meat, flying less, using renewables) should always come first.
What are the challenges with carbon offsetting?
Offsetting certainly isn’t perfect. Here are the big debates:
a. Carbon avoidance vs. carbon removal
- Avoidance: Stopping emissions from happening, for example, paying for clean cookstoves in Africa or supporting renewable energy development projects (that potentially would have happened anyway). While avoidance is crucial, removal technologies are emerging as more robust, longer-term solutions and necessary tools for addressing emissions that are difficult to eliminate, such as those from aviation or certain industrial processes.
- Removal: Actively taking CO₂ out of the atmosphere – such as through mangrove plantations that sequester 4x more carbon than general tree plantations; biochar – turning biomass into charcoal to lock the carbon in, and then using that charcoal in agriculture to build carbon-rich soils; seagrass and kelp projects that support thousands of marine species, produce oxygen, store carbon and help stabilise our coastlines, through to more tech-heavy solutions that suck carbon out of the air or change the chemical structure of carbon-heavy concrete.
Why it matters: Avoidance projects can be hard to measure. Removal is more expensive but potentially more reliable. We call this Project integrity: Ensuring that offset projects deliver real, verifiable, and permanent emissions reductions.
b. Greenwashing risk
Some companies use offsetting to look “green” while continuing business-as-usual. As an individual here are some questions to ask:
- Is the project verified?
- Is it truly additional — would it have happened without your money?
- Is it permanent — or could that forest be cut down in 10 years or at risk of wildfire destruction?
c. Market access & trust
Not all offset providers are created equal. Stick to ones that are transparent, third-party verified, and offer clear reporting – like the Zero Carbon Projects we make available through Lune.
To find out more about how you can remove carbon and offset your environmental impact with Zero Carbon Projects head over HERE.
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