Before purchasing carbon credits, businesses should consider why they are doing so. To satisfy customers and stakeholders and meet their expectations, it would be more advantageous for your business to align with carbon offset schemes that will reduce emissions while benefiting society Carbon Click. It would indicate to the public that your business is not only concerned with its impact on the environment but also focuses on improving quality of life by supporting community projects simultaneously.
In Malawi, for example, carbon credits purchased from the Malawi Cookstoves scheme reduce emissions by reducing combusted biomass. They also increase the quality of life by reducing exposure to health-damaging pollutants Carbon Click caused by poorly optimized cooking stoves. Your business may be more interested in procuring accredited offsets at the lowest price if it is less concerned with the societal benefits of its chosen offset project.
Despite procuring the cheapest carbon offsets, the financial investment required can be drastic depending on how many emissions your business needs to offset. For you to be able to purchase enough carbon credits to offset your emissions, you would have to secure an appropriate rate of ‘buy-in.’ As you’ll have to purchase offsets every year to cover your emissions, it’s best to plan a long-term budget with the intent of remaining carbon neutral.
It is important, however, to ensure that your business’s net zero strategy doesn’t get hindered or negatively affected by the allocated budget for carbon offsets. While looking to procure carbon offsets, it is important to ensure that you still make significant investments in low-carbon technology, operational adjustment, value chain engagement, etc. It would help if you used carbon neutrality to take responsibility for your emissions while seeking to eliminate them directly, not override it with your ambition to become net zero.
A decision to purchase carbon offsets can be interpreted as masking that your company is not taking steps directly to reduce its emissions through direct action. As a result, we are producing far too many greenhouse gases, which is doing little to address the real problem.
We are paying someone else to take responsibility for their emissions. Though purchasing carbon offsets won’t mitigate global warming or eliminate all emissions into the atmosphere, they will at least neutralize those that are being released into the atmosphere, which is far more impactful than if nothing were done.The decision to purchase carbon offsets can be viewed as masking that your business is not actively eliminating its emissions.
