Going beyond zero-sum game offsetting to deliver real benefits

Carbon Market Watch asserts that Article 6 of the Paris Agreement must move beyond zero-sum offsetting to achieve an overall mitigation in global emissions (OMGE). The author critiques two proposed options—relying on market forces and using conservative baselines—as insufficient. Instead, the document advocates for the automatic partial cancellation of credits, arguing that this mechanism ensures net atmospheric benefits and can increase carbon market prices and project owner profits.

• Zero-sum offsetting is considered problematic because it allows polluters to displace emissions, relies on the assumption that buyers would otherwise do nothing, and can increase total emissions if credits lack environmental integrity.
• The document rejects the idea that the market can deliver OMGE on its own, noting that this assumption relies on unproven premises regarding fixed climate budgets, the integrity of carbon credits, and the reinvestment of cost savings.
• Setting conservative baselines is viewed as an important prerequisite but insufficient for OMGE because it functions as a benefit-sharing mechanism where reductions are still counted by the host country rather than remaining uncounted net benefits.
• Automatic partial cancellation of credits is proposed as a viable solution where a fixed share of credits is cancelled upon issuance or transfer, ensuring they are not counted by any entity and thus provide a net gain for the atmosphere.
• Research indicates that applying a cancellation rate can increase overall mitigation and lead to higher carbon market prices, market revenues, and profits for project owners, contradicting claims that such a move would reduce demand.

APA

Dufrasne, G. (2021). Going beyond zero-sum game offsetting to deliver real benefits. Carbon Market Watch. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2021/06/04/time-to-make-article-6-work-for-the-climate/

Chicago

Dufrasne, Gilles. Going beyond zero-sum game offsetting to deliver real benefits. Carbon Market Watch, 2021. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2021/06/04/time-to-make-article-6-work-for-the-climate/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Dufrasne |first1=Gilles |title=Going beyond zero-sum game offsetting to deliver real benefits |publisher=Carbon Market Watch |date=4 June 2021 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2021/06/04/time-to-make-article-6-work-for-the-climate/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{dufrasne2021going, author = {Dufrasne, Gilles}, title = {{Going beyond zero-sum game offsetting to deliver real benefits}}, publisher = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2021}, month = jun, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2021/06/04/time-to-make-article-6-work-for-the-climate/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }