It seems obvious, for example, that a project should reduce emissions below the level that would have occurred without that project, a condition known as “additionality.” But that’s not always the case. Thanks to hazy interpretations of that proviso, “at least half” of current projects wouldn’t meet a uniformly strict assessment, says Michael Schlup, director of the Gold Standard Foundation in Basel, Switzerland, an organization dedicated to eradicating just such inconsistencies. His group unveiled what’s designed to be a rigorous, industry wide protocol in May, and says that around 20 projects are currently applying the code. A rival benchmark Voluntary Carbon Standard is expected to be drawn up soon by the International Emissions Trading Association and the U.K.’s Climate Group.
“however many trees we planted, we could not keep u [with global CO2 output].”
A finite number of major global standards would be good news for consumers, even if they’ve been a little slow in coming. Big corporations and governments already benefit from a common system of approving offset project under the auspices of the United Nations framework Convention on the climate Change. With a common set of rules’ voluntary offsetting could see its ranks of followers-and the market’s credibility-grow further. That’s fine, say many environmental advocates, but they also say customers should be focusing more on cutting emission in the first place. “Offset can be seen as and easy way out for government, businesses and individuals to continue polluting without making changes to their behavior,” say friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and WWF in their recent report on offsetting. So if offsetting dose have a role to play in preventing mankind from cooking the planet, at best it’s a supporting one. Up in the hills of Llanybydder, Hartwell says he makes it clear to his customers that offsetting is only a small part of the fight, and that such frankness costs Treeflightts.com “a lot of custom.” But he says that’s O.K.-he’s still got plenty of trees to plant.