Carbon offset

How it is used

Used as a noun (buy carbon offsets) and as a verb (offset emissions). Offsets are usually bought as carbon credits from projects certified under standards such as Verra or Gold Standard. Because some projects have been criticized, buyers check additionality and permanence.

Example sentences

1. We cut our emissions as far as possible and use carbon offsets only for the rest.

2. The airline lets passengers buy a carbon offset for their flight.

Common collocations

• buy carbon offsets
• offset emissions
• carbon offset project
• high-quality offsets
• voluntary carbon market

Related terms

• carbon creditA tradable certificate representing one tonne of CO2e that a certified project has reduced, avoided or removed from the atmosphere.
• carbon neutralDescribing an organization, product or event whose net carbon emissions over a period are zero, usually because the emissions that remain are balanced with carbon credits.
• net zeroA state in which the greenhouse gases a country or company still emits, after deep emission cuts, are balanced by the same amount being removed from the atmosphere.
• greenwashingMaking misleading claims that a company, product or investment is better for the environment than it really is, for example through vague labels or selective data.
• reforestationPlanting trees, or helping forests grow back naturally, on land where forest was recently cut down, burned or otherwise lost.

More terms: Emissions and Carbon

• greenhouse gas
• carbon dioxide
• emissions
• carbon footprint
• fossil fuel
• decarbonization
• methane
• carbon sink
• emission factor
• CO2e