Carbon offsetting is always something of a controversial topic.

Critics maintain that paying for an emissions reduction project to offset your own carbon footprint distracts from the more serious business of cutting emissions yourself and often fails to deliver promised carbon savings. Meanwhile, advocates of offsetting insist that it remains one of the most effective means of curbing unavoidable emissions while also accelerating the roll out of clean technologies in developing countries.

Like any debate worth having, both sides are right.

Offsets are undoubtedly imperfect (though due to new independent standards they are much better than they were) and there is a very real risk that their use can give some firms a misleading green sheen when they should be accelerating efforts to cut their own emissions. But at the same time they remain an entirely valid means of driving investment in emission reduction projects and if managed properly they can form a useful component of an effective corporate carbon management programme.

As such, when it came to the recent BusinessGreen Leaders Awards we decided to offset the carbon footprint of the event and partnered with offsetting specialist Carbon Clear to do so.

Carbon Clear are a UK-based firm, which boasts a host blue chip clients, is a member of the International Carbon Reduction and Offset Alliance, and can provide carbon offset credits that have been verified by an accredited third party auditor and are certified as having met the criteria set out in the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS).

“To continue reading, click here”