More than 80 leading non-profits have hit out at the use of carbon offsets to meet climate targets.
The non-profits have issued a joint statement, saying that allowing companies and countries to meet climate commitments with carbon credits is likely to slow down global emission reductions.
The letter has been published in response to the SBTi, which earlier this year, in a controversial move, said it would provide new guidance on how companies can use carbon credit to offset emissions.
Earlier this month, the CEO of the SBTi announced he was stepping down amid the controversy.
Four key reasons for concerns with the use of carbon offsets were highlighted in the statement, issued by non-profits including Amnesty International, Biofuelwatch and Carbon Market Watch.
These were that offsetting could delay climate action.
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The statement said: “First, it is essential to understand that offsetting, at best, does not reduce the concentration of GHGs in the atmosphere, it simply moves emission reductions from one place to another.”
Secondly, it said carbon offsetting inherently lacks credibility.
It said: “carbon crediting programmes are dealing with unknowables and have to guess the key parameters of their projects”.
Thirdly, it said there are only so many “quality” credits that could be used as offsets and, finally, that “the climate funding gap will not be solved by offsetting”.
