edie Explains: Carbon Offsetting

26th June 2023

What is carbon offsetting in the terms of a business’s carbon emissions strategy? How does the carbon offset process and its market work? And, at what point should a business turn to carbon offsetting?

This free-to-download edie Explains guide, produced in association with the South Pole Group helps sustainability professionals understand and navigate the growing market of carbon offsets.

Climate action is urgently needed and current global actions are far from sufficient for achieving 1.5C. It’s clear we must use every tool available to us to ensure we limit global temperature rises. The Voluntary Carbon Market offers a credible, proven way to drastically scale up the needed climate action – but only if corporations are empowered to make claims that earn them credit for their actions.

The recent heated debate around ‘climate neutral’ and ‘carbon neutral’ claims has highlighted that whilst scaling up climate finance with speed remains a priority, there is also a critical need for industry alignment around how companies talk about these activities in a credible and transparent way. For that reason, South Pole has proposed a Paris-aligned corporate climate claim – funding climate action.

The evolution in the way corporations communicate on climate action will undergo a shift away from carbon neutrality and offsetting claims. Paris-aligned climate funding claims will empower companies, providing them with a clear pathway to scaling up much needed investment and helping to solve the climate crisis.

From exploring the different types of offsetting and how they work to outlining the benefits and controversies surrounding them, this guide outlines how offsets can be utilised as part of a carbon business strategy that focuses on reductions first and foremost.

It also features a viewpoint from Roby Crean, Sustainability Advisor, South Pole Group, that explains where offsetting fits into corporate strategies to reach net-zero.

Fill out the form on the left and click ‘READ THE GUIDE’ to download a copy of this edie Explains guide.