It comes amid growing fears that growing corporate and government appetite for carbon offsets that nominally enable them to meet ambitious net zero emissions goals could actually undermine global climate goals. Critics have argued an unregulated and ineffective carbon offset market could provide large polluters with a cover story that allows them to continue to increase direct emissions, while others have warned that some carbon offset projects fail to deliver promised long term reductions in emissions.
Creating a more robust international regulatory and policy framework for voluntary carbon markets is set to be one of the key priorities at the COP26 Climate Summit taking place from next week in Glasgow.