Using the example of a non-profit project in northern Germany that uses offset dollars to restore local degraded peatlands to their natural state as extremely rich carbon storehouses, the video makes clear that offsets can be “legit” if several criteria are all met: a project actually reduces carbon emissions, more or less permanently; the carbon emissions produced would not otherwise have occurred; and “bragging rights” are clear and traceable to one beneficiary.
Sometimes, projects reduce emissions for a while, but are set up to fail over the longer haul—as an example, Planet A cites tree planting projects that 10 years on have been clearcut for timber.
The second category of pitfalls applies to emission reductions that aren’t “additional”, since they would have occurred even without the offset project.
For individual consumers, without the time or the training to analyze deeply, the question is how to know at a glance whether a particular offset project is legitimate, Planet A says.
As for whether or not the programs are actually needed, it will be “extremely hard to reach our climate targets without some form of offsets,” Planet A says, citing the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.