Offsets get the green light
Alongside the reformation of the Spice Girls, the idea that we can pay a little extra to make up for our pollution is one of this year’s most contentious issues. Now the government has weighed in, simultaneously supporting the concept of carbon offsetting while having strong things to say about the current provision.
The House Of Commons’ environmental audit committee has just published a new report and found that offsetting could play an important part in greening the economy.
However, regulations have yet to be implemented and there have been some high-profile blunders. Last year a scheme used by Coldplay to ‘offset’ the release of an album was criticised, with many of the 10,000 mango trees planted in India reported to have died in arid conditions.
The committee points out that stories such as this one have done a lot of damage to the reputation of offsetting, but found that reforestation remains a valid way to tackle emissions that are unavoidable:
Some of the most rigorous and environmentally beneficial of all projects come from the stewardship of tropical forests and the well-judged re-forestation or afforestation of land in the tropics. Indeed, figures from the Stern and recent IPCC reports stress the significance of avoided deforestation, but also of reforestation, to avoiding dangerous climate change.
The report is most critical of the airline industry. It says that that the sector’s approach is ‘generally unsatisfying’, and goes as far as to call British Airways’ offsetting initiative ‘risible’.
It will be interesting to see whether carbon off-setting takes off when it comes to greening households. Is it any more realistic for the average householder to achieve a carbon neutral home life than it is a zero-emission flight in a plane? Arguably not. We were interested to see a number of carbon-conscious mortgages appearing recently. Will the take-up of these compete with travel-based schemes?
IMAGE by Flickr user Barnaby_S
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Originally posted 2007-07-23 11:25:00. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
