Report Overview
In this second entry in our “Fact from Fiction” series on sustainability issues relating to travel and tourism we tackle the issue of carbon offsets.
Through a combination of secondary research and quantitative analysis, Skift takes a critical look at the practicality of implementing carbon offsets from a financial perspective, with particular focus on the airline industry within the context of the International Air Transport Association’s requirements.
We also compare this to the rollout of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and how offsets can play an interim role until these more costly developments can be implemented at scale.
Given some of the controversies surrounding carbon offsets, we also take a detailed look at the challenges they have faced, why these problems arose, how they can be avoided, and how the quality of carbon offsets can be verified within the context of established measures.
- You will learn what exactly carbon offsets are and how the market for them functions
- Whether the scrutiny and negative attention they have received is justified
- What they cost and the value of the market
- Whether they are mere greenwashing or a valid pursuit
- How to determine quality from low quality offsets
- What role, if any, they can and should play in businesses’ journeys towards net zero
- Whether they are a valid means of reducing carbon emissions and how to tell when they are not
- What the flaws in the carbon offset ecosystem are and why they have received negative attention
- How to avoid common pitfalls in carbon offsetting and engage with the market legitimately