Implications of international GHG offsets on global climate change mitigation

This research paper examines the impact of international greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions offsets on global climate mitigation, specifically focusing on the risks of double-counting reductions between host and buying countries following the 2010 Cancún Agreements.

• The use of international offsets may lower the ambition of existing emission-reduction pledges by as much as 1.6 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2020 if both the developing country supplying the offset and the developed country buying it count the reductions toward their targets. This suggests that current pledges may fall further short of the levels required to limit global warming to 1.5°C or 2°C.
• The dilution of climate pledges could be more severe if the offsets used do not represent additional emission reductions.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2013). Implications of international GHG offsets on global climate change mitigation. https://www.sei.org/publications/implications-of-international-ghg-offsets-on-global-climate-change-mitigation/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Implications of international GHG offsets on global climate change mitigation. 2013. https://www.sei.org/publications/implications-of-international-ghg-offsets-on-global-climate-change-mitigation/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Implications of international GHG offsets on global climate change mitigation |date=13 August 2013 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/implications-of-international-ghg-offsets-on-global-climate-change-mitigation/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2013implications, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Implications of international GHG offsets on global climate change mitigation}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2013}, month = aug, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/implications-of-international-ghg-offsets-on-global-climate-change-mitigation/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }