Carbon Offsets Market

Emission offsets? Carbon removals? If you’re like most, these terms create an immense amount of confusion that is incredibly hard to navigate.

Luckily, we have organizations like Climate Tech VC that help break down this jargon. One of their most recent newsletters solely focuses on the Carbon Offset Market.

Here’s our VERY brief summary:

To achieve 1.5 degrees, even with drastic decarbonization, we need to stop GHG emissions and remove more than ~10-20% of global emissions annually.

This is where Carbon Offset Markets come into play. Companies and individuals are looking for ways to “make up the difference” or offset their carbon emissions.

Once corporations have measured their emissions and prioritized mitigation, they can work with brokers to construct carbon offset portfolios. Through this, they can purchase carbon credits to help obtain more sustainable business practices aimed at lowering the amount of carbon in the atmosphere.

To say it lightly, the Carbon Offset Market space is convoluted. Not only is it growing rapidly and changing constantly, but it’s also ridden with greenwashing and is fueled by some corporations who have ulterior motives.

Many companies like Carbon Plan and Carbon Direct act as a third-party service to ensure quality carbon. Similarly, companies like Patch and Pledge are creating marketplaces to supply high-quality offsets to companies.

Like most things ClimateTech, the carbon offsets marketplace is ever-growing and changing!