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You will have heard a lot of mention of offsetting emissions as a way of reducing your carbon footprint. Unfortunately, there has been a rise in greenwashing in this area, with schemes making misleading claims and false promises. Carbon offsetting does not reduce emissions at the source and purchasing offsets should be a last resort, after other measures to reduce or avoid emissions have been explored. 

We suggest the following steps when it comes to reducing your footprint. We’ve listed them in order of how effective they are:  

1: Avoid: for example, cycle or walk when you can, instead of driving.  

2: Reduce: improve your energy efficiency by investing in your own renewable energy, such as solar panels. Check if there are any financial incentives on offer in your area. 

3: Substitute: if its financially viable choose a 100% renewable energy tariff.

4: Offset: only as a last resort! 

One of the most common offsetting schemes is tree planting. But there’s no guarantee a forest will be permanent or well-managed, or that native species will be planted in the right areas with proper consideration of nature. Also, reforestation doesn’t reduce global demand for fossil fuels. You should check whether an offsetting organisation has considered these points before investing. 

So before you offset, check the credentials of offsetting projects to ensure they’re certified by goldstandard.org. This is an independent, transparent, internationally recognised benchmark for ‘high quality’ carbon-offset projects.