Today we @UniofOxford have published some principles for #netzero aligned carbon offsetting: https://www.smithschool.ox.ac.uk/publications/reports/Oxford-Offsetting-Principles-2020.pdf

Here's a summary...

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First, some background:

Carbon offsetting is the reduction of your own balance of emissions by gaining credit for certified emission reduction or removal carried out by another actor.

It's not for everyone. Objections exist, both on grounds of ethics (is it right?) and practice (does it work?). But offsetting is widespread and set to grow as countries, cities and businesses all strive to set and meet #netzero targets...

Done well, offset projects can make a difference. But the types of offset projects available will need to change over time in order to help reach a genuine net zero society.

We set out four principles:

Principle 1: Prioritise reducing your own emissions first, before offsetting. Ensure the integrity of any offsets you do use and transparency in your approach. There are excellent guides to these aspects of best practice already, such as http://www.offsetguide.org/ .

Principle 2: over time, shift offsetting towards carbon removal, away from emission reduction. Genuine #netzero means that any residual emissions need to be balanced out by removals.

Principle 3: shift offsetting towards long-lived storage. Tree planting stores carbon for a while and has many other benefits, but is not a long-term solution for balancing fossil carbon emissions. Long-lived storage means carbon carefully locked away in geology or minerals.

Principle 4: support development of a market for these offsets. Getting from here to there requires early adopters to provide long-term agreements, form alliances, restore ecosystems on their own merits, and help set standards...

... Some interesting moves along these lines have come from @stripe and @Microsoft.

https://stripe.com/blog/first-negative-emissions-purchases
https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2020/07/21/carbon-negative-transform-to-net-zero/

We welcome feedback on these ideas, particularly from people involved in providing, buying from, or regulating offset schemes.

And if you are looking for some guidance on #netzero-aligned strategy more generally, take a look at the principles here (for which our new offsetting principles are very much a companion):

https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/downloads/briefings/Principles_For_Climate_Conscious_Investment_Feb2018.pdf

Check out the excellent co-authors on Twitter: @KayaAxelsson, @EliMLarson, @thomasnhale, @NathalieSeddon, @ymalhi, @camjhep, @FrediOtto and @bencaldecott.

And thanks go out to the many people who informed this piece through discussions.

Final thanks to @bencaldecott for taking the initiative after we discussed the idea over a pint back in March (and for buying the pint).