Net Zero, Carbon Removal and the Limitations of Carbon Offsetting

The document argues that carbon offsetting is often used to justify continued emissions and delay the necessary phase-out of fossil fuels. It distinguishes between 'avoidance offsets', which are deemed incompatible with net zero goals, and 'removal offsets', which face significant challenges regarding permanence, additionality, and scale. The authors contend that the current carbon market reproduces global inequalities and risks negative social outcomes, particularly in land-based projects. They recommend that governments and businesses eliminate avoidance offsets, prioritize direct emission reductions, and fund necessary carbon removals through non-market mechanisms such as public financing or mandates.

• Avoidance offsets are fundamentally incompatible with net zero targets because they do not stop the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere; they merely stabilize the rate of growth in emissions.
• Most current carbon removal offsets rely on natural ecosystems, which are temporary and subject to reversals from wildfires or land-use changes, making them non-equivalent to the permanent sequestration of fossil fuels in the geosphere.
• Technological carbon removal methods that could offer permanent sequestration, such as direct air capture and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, currently exist on a scale too small to be meaningful for countries or companies.
• The 'additionality' of many carbon offsets is questionable, with an analysis of the corporate carbon market finding 600 million tonnes of credits available that lack additionality, which is seven times the global demand.
• Carbon offsetting reproduces global inequalities by allowing wealthy nations and corporations to pay poorer nations to handle pollution, which contradicts the Paris Agreement principle of 'common but differentiated responsibilities'.
• Land-based offsetting projects often lead to negative social outcomes, including the physical displacement of poor people with undocumented land rights and loss of forest-based livelihood opportunities.
• The use of offsets creates a 'collective delusion' that net zero can be achieved with fewer emission reductions, thereby extending the lock-in of high-emissions infrastructure and delaying the development of durable removal technologies.

APA

Carton, W., Knorr, W., Lewis, S., Lund, J. F., McAfee, K., McLaren, D., Möller, I., Sapinski, J. P., Stabinsky, D., Smith, P., & Thoni, T. (2022). Net Zero, Carbon Removal and the Limitations of Carbon Offsetting. Climate Social Science Network. https://cssn.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Net-Zero-and-Carbon-Offsetting-Position-Paper.pdf

Chicago

Carton, Wim, Wolfgang Knorr, Simon Lewis, Jens Friis Lund, Kathleen McAfee, Duncan McLaren, Ina Möller, et al. Net Zero, Carbon Removal and the Limitations of Carbon Offsetting. Climate Social Science Network, 2022. https://cssn.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Net-Zero-and-Carbon-Offsetting-Position-Paper.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Carton |first1=Wim |last2=Knorr |first2=Wolfgang |last3=Lewis |first3=Simon |last4=Lund |first4=Jens Friis |last5=McAfee |first5=Kathleen |last6=McLaren |first6=Duncan |last7=Möller |first7=Ina |last8=Sapinski |first8=J. P. |last9=Stabinsky |first9=Doreen |display-authors=etal |title=Net Zero, Carbon Removal and the Limitations of Carbon Offsetting |publisher=Climate Social Science Network |date=2022 |url=https://cssn.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Net-Zero-and-Carbon-Offsetting-Position-Paper.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{carton2022net, author = {Carton, Wim and Knorr, Wolfgang and Lewis, Simon and Lund, Jens Friis and McAfee, Kathleen and McLaren, Duncan and Möller, Ina and Sapinski, J. P. and Stabinsky, Doreen and Smith, Pete and Thoni, Terese}, title = {{Net Zero, Carbon Removal and the Limitations of Carbon Offsetting}}, institution = {Climate Social Science Network}, year = {2022}, url = {https://cssn.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Net-Zero-and-Carbon-Offsetting-Position-Paper.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }