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New Energy World
New Energy World embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low carbon technologies.
(Carbon) credits where credit is due
21/2/2024
8 min read
Are offsets a licence to pollute – or an effective economic incentive to cut carbon? Finance journalist Jennifer Johnson looks at the need for unambiguous certification schemes.
No one was surprised when a lightning bolt ignited a fire in the Fremont-Winema National Forest in early July 2021. All of southern Oregon, where the forest covers some 9,000 km2, had experienced a major drought followed by heatwave in the preceding months. What ultimately blindsided residents and state officials was just how aggressively the fire consumed everything in its path. Over 1,500 km2 of federally-protected wilderness was scorched in the blaze, known as the Bootleg Fire, which was finally contained in mid-August.
The forest itself was more than just a vital ecosystem – it also contained carbon offset projects designed to help companies and individuals compensate for their CO2 emissions. Some of the land impacted by the Bootleg Fire is privately owned and managed by a group known as the Green Diamond Resource Company, which styles itself as a forest stewardship organisation. The firm says it has 280,000 hectares of active ‘carbon banks’ spread across several US states, including Oregon.
Once certified by an independent body, groups like Green Diamond can sell a ‘credit’ for every tonne of CO2 absorbed by their forests. Less than six months prior to the fire, technology giant Microsoft purchased a quarter of a million tonnes of carbon removal credits from the company. By the time the Bootleg Fire was contained, an estimated 20% of Green Diamond’s land in southern Oregon had burned – and trees that were meant to sequester CO2 indefinitely released it back into the atmosphere.