Offset using EcoTracker – coming soon!
Offsetting is an important element of the EcoTracker Framework (see the Approach page), but is no substitute for taking Action to reduce your environmental impact.
Offsetting involves paying an organisation to reduce your environmental impact on your behalf. Usually this involves making a change to reduce CO2 emissions or removing CO2 from the atmosphere elsewhere in the world, but it may also provide other environmental and social benefits. By paying for an organisation to reduce or remove the same amount of CO2 as we emit, we can effectively reduce our CO2 emissions to zero (i.e. net zero carbon). This must be “additional” (i.e. it would not have happened without the money being paid), permanent, and it must not cause further CO2 to be emitted elsewhere (e.g. if trees are planted on peat, their roots can destabilise this carbon store and greenhouse gases can be emitted).
IPCC’s AR6 Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change report confirms that a level offsetting, otherwise known as Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR), will be critical to limit global warming to even 2°C.
We recommend that every year you Track your progress and offset your remaining environmental impact. You may also want to consider offsetting more than just your environmental impact and becoming “environment positive”, providing a net benefit to the environment.
A level of offsetting may be critical to addressing the Climate and ecological emergency, but the highest priority is to all take Action to reduce our environmental impact. The offsetting mechanisms available to us fall well short of the capacity to absorb all of the CO2 emitted globally. For instance there is insufficient suitable land area available by far to plant the number of trees to absorb all of the CO2 emitted globally. Similarly, for us all to get to net zero carbon as required, we can’t simply rely on the reductions that others make as they themselves will also need to get to net zero carbon.
Choose carbon offset projects that have been thoroughly assessed by an appropriate third party, as these projects are likely to be the most robust i.e. actually provide the CO2 savings that have been promised. Third party certifiers include:
Click or tap the sections below to reveal a list of other offsetting platforms, and to learn more about nature-based offsetting and other offsetting approaches. Also, watch a thought provoking video.
Other offsetting platforms
We hope you will like the offsetting options soon to be available at EcoTracker. Many alternative offsetting options are available elsewhere if you prefer, such as at:
- Carbonfootprint.com (UK)
- Plan Vivo has links to various options
- Gold Standard (Switzerland)
- Terrapass (US)
Nature-based offsetting
We recommend nature-based offsetting (e.g. tree planting, habitat restoration, soil restoration and rewilding) in which the local community are engaged and have a key stake, as this is robust and can address the Climate and ecological emergency and as well as Climate justice and other social issues at the same time.
The benefits of nature-based offsetting schemes run by local communities include:
- Removing CO2 from the atmosphere as plants grow
- Providing a habitat for a wide variety of species
- Supporting a wide variety of pollinators that can help improve yields on nearby farms.
- Capturing rainwater, slowing run-off, and reducing the flood risk downstream
- Improving the water quality that enters rivers
- Reducing soil erosion
- Improving our air quality
- Providing opportunities for recreation and improved health and wellbeing
- Creation of decent work
- Reduced poverty
- Reduced hunger
- Promotion of sustainable cities and communities
Schemes should ensure that the right tree or feature goes in the right place, fit for the local context, with clear ecological benefits and minimising the risk of human and natural disturbance (which can reverse the carbon storage and nature benefits). Tree planting can be damaging if done without considering the context and ecological and social impacts. For instance:
- tree planting on peat can destabilise this carbon store and release greenhouse gases.
- a large plantation of a single tree species may have little ecological benefit and may possibly be worse for nature than the previous land-use.
- tree planting on land used informally by vulnerable small-scale subsistence farmers may disrupt or destroy their livelihoods.
Some areas may not be suitable for tree planting.
Watch this video from BBC News which considers whether carbon offsetting can help the planet.
If you start your journey to net zero carbon in 2023, you would need to complete a Top Action roughly every 200 days to complete all 12 and get to net zero carbon by 2030. You can do this!
Make The EcoTracker 2030 Pledge
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The year 2030
Other types of offsetting
Other types of offsetting you may be able to pay for include:
- Efficient Cookstoves i.e. providing stoves to those who can’t afford them which use cleaner fuel, saving CO2 emissions.
- Drinking water treatment i.e. providing equipment to treat water so it need not be boiled, saving CO2 emissions
- Energy efficiency e.g. insulating buildings so that less energy is used heating them, saving CO2 emissions.
- Renewable energy technology installation e.g. installing a technology that generates renewable energy, thus generating clean energy and avoiding the use of fossil fuel-based energy, thus saving CO2 emissions.
- Improved recycling and waste disposal e.g. recycling products so that less energy is used in manufacturing new products from raw materials.
- Carbon removal technology i.e. technology that removes CO2 from emissions or directly from the atmosphere into storage. This is also known as Direct Air Carbon Capture and Storage (DACCS).
These may provide significant social benefits – particularly the cookstoves and drinking water treatment – but will not have the same level of ecological benefits as nature-based offsetting.
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