10 Reasons Why Carbon Credits are Like Ice Creams

Great article about Voluntary #CarbonMarkets and #CarbonCredits by Vikram Widge, Senior Advisor of Climate Policy Initiative.

After lying relatively dormant for the better part of the last decade, demand for voluntary carbon offsets has seen a sharp uptake since 2019, driven by the growing number of private entities that are starting to operationalize their net-zero pledges and seeking to neutralize the non-abated balance of their emissions.

Voluntary carbon offsets should not and cannot be the leading tactic for zeroing out private sector emissions. Emphasis must be placed on reducing emissions as much as possible. However, offsets play an important transition role in neutralizing emissions that are more difficult to abate, while also serving as an important funding mechanism to protect natural capital. We could think of them as a reward, like ice cream is when you eat your veggies.

As we all work to build a robust, ethical carbon offset market at scale to support a sustained transition to net-zero, maybe keeping this ice cream analogy in mind will make the effort, and the result, all the more satisfying.