Carbon offsetting for small organisations

Carbon offsetting is a hot topic amongst businesses that are looking to improve their sustainability credentials. Every organisation will produce some level of negative impact on the planet – unfortunately, it is inevitable. And for organisations that are determined to become carbon neutral or negative, carbon offsetting is the only way to achieve that.

But it can be far too easy to throw money at a problem to try and make it go away. And paying for someone else to do a good deed that helps the planet whilst you continue to emit the same levels of pollutants sounds ethically questionable to us. 

We have put together this short guide so that your business doesn’t fall into the carbon offsetting greenwash trap.

What is carbon offsetting?

According to the World Economic Forum, carbon offsetting is a way of buying credits to cancel out any emissions that your organisation may produce. There was a growing trend of offsetting in the form of tree planting schemes, but the industry has now moved on to schemes which involve the purchase of official credits.

But tree planting schemes look good to our customers, why aren’t they popular anymore?

Trees are a crucial part of our biosphere. And everyone agrees that we need more of them, right? Yes. But also, no.

Tree planting schemes have fallen out of favour due to the evidence of forestry mismanagement and human rights violations at some locations. In some countries, indigenous people have been forced from their homes to make way for tree plantations, and at some of these carbon offsetting sites, organisations have paid to plant trees which are then not properly looked after and die, or are cut down quickly.

Unless you can be 100% certain after completing due diligence that a tree planting scheme is legitimate and is planting suitable species of trees in areas where people have not been displaced, we would advise to avoid them.

What should I do instead?

As mentioned earlier, you can now purchase official carbon credits. These should be to a ‘Gold Standard’, which you can read more about in this article from the Ethical Consumer.

The other option is for you to ask around locally. We are big fans of local businesses helping their local community. Instead of paying for offsets, could you arrange an organisation-wide day of litter picking? Could you donate your time and skills to a local charity? Is there a local grassroots environmental organisation that you could help to fund?

Before you make any decisions…

The first thing you MUST do before you even begin to think about carbon offsetting is measure your organisations’ carbon footprint and find practical ways to reduce this. 

If you’re struggling to find the time to do this, Grow can help. We are experts in measuring your environmental impact and analysing your management policies to find ways where change will be better for you and for the planet. 
Drop us a line at hello@goodbusinessesgrow.co.uk